Sec 


THE 

HISTORY  AND  LITERATURE 

0?  THE 

HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM, 

/oil 


AND   OF   ITS 


Jtttroduttian  inta  the  gfith^rlands. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAN  OF  VON ALPEN, 


BY  J.  F.  BERG,  D.  D., 


Professor   of    Didactic   and   Polemic    Thf.ology   in    thk   Seminary   oy   thk 
Reformed  Protestant  Dutcu  Church,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 


•PHILADELPHIA: 

WILLIAM   S.    &   ALFRED   MARTIEN, 

606  Chestnut  Street. 
1863. 


Entered,  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1863, 

Bt  WILLIAM  S.   &  ALFRED  MARTIEN, 

In  the  oflSce  of  the  Clerk  of  the  District  Court  for  the 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


THE  HISTORY  AND  LITERATUKE 

OF  THE 

HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM. 


PREFATORY  NOTE  BY  THE  TRANSLATOR. 

The  following  sketch  of  the  history  and  literature  of 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  of  its  adoption  in  the 
Netherlands,  is  a  translation  of  Von  Alpen's  "Ge- 
schichte  und  Literatur  des  Heidelberg  Catechism."  It 
will  be  found  interesting  to  the  general  reader,  and 
especially  worthy  of  the  attention  of  those  to  whom  all 
authentic  information  touching  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism is  important.  The  original  intention  of  the 
translator  was  simply  to  prepare  a  course  of  historical 
lectures  on  this  subject,  for  the  benefit  of  the  students 
in  the  Theological  Seminary,  in  New  Brunswick,  pre- 
paratory to  a  series  of  expository  lectures  on  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  and  a  portion  of  the  first  part  was  read 
to  the  members  of  the  middle  and  senior  classes  before 
the  close  of  the  last  terra ;  but  it  was  deemed  best,  as 
the  historical  discussion  pertains  to  another  department, 
to  finish  the  work  at  once,  and  make  it  accessible  to 
all  whn  may  feel  an  interest  in  the  subject.  Dr.  AVood- 
bridgc  courteously  and  cordially  assented  to  the  original 
arrangement,  -and«-I  wish  thus  to  put  on  record  my 
appreciation  of  hi§  generous  co-operation  in  this  work. 

The  reader  will  confer  a  favour  by  bearing  in  mind 
a  few  points,  to  which  his  attention  is  called.  In  the 
first  place,  the  translator  is  not  responsible  for  the 
1 


2  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

opinions  of  the  author,  and  though  the  doctrinal  plat- 
form upon  which  Von  Alpen  stands  is  sound  and  firm, 
his  views,  in  relation  to  established  forms  of  religion,  or 
church  establishments,  supported  by  the  civil  power, 
will  not  be  shared  by  American  readers ;  and  yet  those 
views  are  rather  incidentally  suggested,  than  formally 
vindicated,  or  asserted.  In  the  second  place,  the  trans- 
lation is  not,  in  every  instance,  literal;  it  is,  however, 
throughout,  as  literal  as  the  diverse  idioms  of  the  two 
languages  will  allow. 

The  history,  herewith  submitted,  is  only  a  portion  of 
Von  Alpen's  work;  it  is,  however,  complete,  so  far  as  it 
goes,  and  will  be  followed  in  successive  numbers  of  the 
Quarterly^  as  Providence  shall  permit,  with  the  history 
of  the  introduction  of  the  Catechism  into  Switzerland ; 
Germany  in  general;  into  Julich,  Cleve,  Berg,  Mark, 
&c. ;  into  others  of  the  German  States ;  and  into  France, 
England,  Poland,  and  Hungary. 

The  first  five  pages  of  Von  Alpen's  history  of  the 
adoption  of  the  Catechism  in  the  Netherlands  are 
omitted  in  the  translation,  because  they  are  occupied 
altogether  with  a  panegyric,  which,  however  eloquent 
it  may  be  be,  is  none  the  less  irrelevant.  Some  pas- 
sages of  his  preface  are  also  ruled  out,  for  want  of 
space,  but  mainly  because  they  consist  of  abstract 
speculations  or  discussions,  which  have  nothing  to  do 
with  the  subject  in  hand. 

The  list  of  authorities,  bearing  on  other  portions  of 
the  history,  will  be  given  in  their  proper  place. 
Believing  that  this  work  will  supply  a  want  which  has 
been  often  acknowledged,  the  translator  commits  it  to 
the  students  of  the  Theological  Seminary,  and  to  the 
Church,  with  the  prayer  that  the  blessing  of  our  Cove- 
nant Head  may  attend  it, 

V         Joseph  F.  Berg. 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM. 


VOX  ALPEN'S   PREFACE   TO  THE   HTSTOTIY  AND  LITE- 
RATURE OF  THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM. 

Ix  accordance  with  my  promise,  I  herewith  present 
the  History  and  Literature  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
which  I  hope  will  be  acceptable  to  my  cotemporaries. 
In  a  period,  in  which  the  field  of  history  is  cultivated 
by  so  many  distinguished  labourers,  I  had  for  some  time 
hoped  to  have  the  privilege  of  reading  the  History  of 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  (which  is  so  remarkable  in 
every  respect,)  prepared  by  a  competent  hand.  I\Ir. 
Kortum,  in  his  day,  remarked:  "In  Saxony  they  write 
about  single  small  cities,  monasteries,  and  villages  of 
single  families,  and  if  one  finds  only  an  old  penny,  or  an 
old  vase,  it  must  be  made  a  public  matter;  and  it  is 
right,  it  should  be  so."  What  would  Mr.  Kortum  say, 
were  he  living  now"?  And  yet,  wc  have  not  any  his- 
tory of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  adapted  to  our  wants  I 
It  will  be  readily  believed  that  I  am  familiar  with  all 
that  has  been  written  on  this  subject;  but  it  must  be 
acknowledged  also,  that  this  does  not  obviate  the  neces- 
sity of  elaborating  this  material.  The  value  of  such  a 
history,  which  exerted  so  much  influence  on  the  changes 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  upon  succeeding  ages,  will 
hardly  be  questioned  by  any  one. 

The  history  itself  is  exceedingly  attractive;  it  is  a 
flowery  field,  over  which  the  thoughtful  man  delights  to 
walk,  and  seldom  returns  unsatisfied.  In  its  freshness, 
we  forget  the  cares  and  sorrows  of  life ;  there  wc  may 
repose  quietly^  when  wearied  with  official  duty.  That 
is  a  pretty  incident,  which  Anthony  Phanormitanus^  and 
Ericius  Puteanus  relate  concerning  the  two  kings  in 
Arragon,  Ferdinand  and  Alphonsus,  that  they  regained 
their  health  b)*  having  Livy  and  Curtius  read  to  them. 


4  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Bodinus  tells  a  similar  anecdote  of  Laurentius-Medices, 
when  the  story  of  the  siege  of  the  Castle  of  Winsbergen 
was  read  to  him.  In  general,  it  may  be  said,  that  all 
history  is  attractive.  It  shonld  be  studied  for  the  plea- 
sure which  it  affords;  at  least  I  can  avow,  that  I  have 
enjoyed  pleasant  hours  in  this  work,  have  forgotten  many 
a  care,  and  have  been  cheered  in  the  dark  moments  of 
sorrow.      Perhaps,  for  this  purpose,  this  history,  too, 

may  be  useful 

The  History  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  contains 
much  that  is  instructive  for  all  classes  and  orders  of 
people,  and  this  renders  it  worthy  of  the  consideration 
of  every  reflecting  mind.  History  is,  in  general,  the 
best  school  of  wisdom  and  prudence.  From  time  imme- 
morial, it  has  educated  the  greatest,  the  most  skilful  and 
deserving  men  of  our  race.  That  throng  of  heroes,  art- 
ists, philosophers,  lawgivers,  and  teachers,  whose  names, 
to  this  day,  fill  us  with  admiration,  chose  it  as  their 
guide  on  the  glorious  path  to  immortality,  and  never 
yet  has  any  one  gone  out  of  this  school  untaught. 
Where  could  we  hope  to  gather  more  knowledge  of  the 
world  and  of  men,  than  just  here"?  The  physical  and 
moral  world  have,  once  for  all,  their  immutable  laws, 
according  to  which  they  move  and  work,  and  these  lead 
us  to  the  study  of  nature  and  of  history.  The  ignorant 
man  is  amazed  at  many  occurrences,  appearances,  and 
events;  he  is  carried  away  with  emoUons  of  horror  or 
fear;  he  does  not  know  the  causes,  the  laws,  and  the 
effects  of  these  things,  and  he  is  at  a  loss  what  to  do; 
but  the  disciple  of  nature,  the  eager,  student  of  history, 
views  them  with  an  inquiring  mind,  estimates  them 
according  to  their  effects  and  consequences,  and  thence 
deduces  the  most  salutary  rules,  which  govern  his  con- 
duct. Here  we  learn  what  man  is,  what  he  can  do; 
what  lies  hidden  in  him;  hisS'irtues  and  his  infirmities. 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  5 

Here  we  become  acquainted  with  the  springs,  the  power, 
and  the  effects  of  truth  and  error,  of  wisdom  and  folly, 
of  virtue  and  vice,  of  customs,  prejudices,  and  passions. 
Here  we  gather  the  clearest  ideas  upon  religious  and 
civil  government,  ideas  which  are  so  important  to  our 
inward  and  outward  peace,  and  which,  through  recent 
occurrences,  and  occasional  shallow  and  imprudent 
administration,  to  which  they  have  given  rise,  have 
obtained  such  a  degree  of  vagueness,  confusion,  and 
absurdity,  that  there  is  danger  of  their  becoming  very 
unsafe  guides  of  conduct  for  some  time  to  come. 

If  it  is  true  that  history  in  general  is  a  school  of 
wisdom,  this  may  be  especially  asserted  of  the  history 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Let  it  not  be  said  that 
the  history  of  this  Catechism  is  so  unimportant,  and  its 
influence  so  small,  that  it  does  not  deserve  to  be  the 
subject  of  special  elaboration;  or  that  it  would  be  bet- 
ter, in  these  days,  when  so  many  other  things  are 
claiming  the  attention  of  the  world  and  evoking  revo- 
lutions, to  let  it  rest  in  peace,  as  a  subject  which  has 

lost   its   interest The   Heidelberg   Catechism 

exerted  the  most  powerful  influence  upon  the  destinies 
of  entire  nations  and  kingdoms.  It  decided  the  con- 
stitution of  a  whole  republic.  It  was  the  basis  upon 
which  the  freedom  of  a  .powerful  religious  party  was 
founded.  Admit,  that  the  ideas  formerly  entertained 
on  many  subjects  have  undergone  a  change,  and  that 
the  days  are  gone  by  when  men  denounced  and  perse- 
cuted each  other  as  heretics,  solely  on  the  ground  of 
difl'erences  in  religious  doctrine  or  opinion,  and  refused, 
even  to  an  iqDright  man,  all  love  and  intercourse,  all 
help  and  social  kindness,  simply  because  he  adho^'ed  to 
another  church,  or  to  another  confession  of  faith;  still, 
it  is  not  a  matter  of  indifl'erence  by  what  way  a  man 


()  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

attains  the  goal  which  he  seeks.  Praiseworthy  as  it  is, 
that  in  our  day,  in  the  ordinary  transactions,  business 
and  intercourse  of  life,  men  look  not  on  outward  con- 
fessions and  symbols  of  faith,  but  on  disposition, 
honourable  conduct,  and  morality,  and  that  Jewish 
bigotry,  fanaticism,  and  pharisaism,  are  branded  with 
indelible  infamy;  just  so  blameworthy  is  it,  on  the  other 
side,  to  be  indifferent  to  every  thing  which  concerns 
God  and  religion.  Our  want  of  prosperity  originates, 
after  all,  invariably,  from  opinions  and  views,  and  is 
rendered  complete  by  an  ever-increasing  immorality. 
AVhoever  believes  that  the  history  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  presents  nothing  adapted  to  our  times,  has 
reason  to  regard  this  opinion  as  a  very  unfavourable 
indication  of  his  mental  structure,  and  may  well  be 
concerned  about  himself.  ....  Pliny  justly  observes: 
"History  must  aim  not  at  vain  boasting,  but  at  fidelity 
and  truth."  Formerly,  our  histories  bore  upon  their 
title  pages  the  epithets,  "impartial,"  "reliable,"  "com- 
plete ;"  but,  for  some  time  back,  they  claim  the  honour- 
able designation  of  pragmatical.  A  good  name!  Poly- 
bius  and  Tacitus  wrote  pragmatically,  and  the  word 
originated  with  the  former  of  them.  He  writes  prag- 
matically, who  reveals  the  origin  of  human  virtues  and 
vices;  the  peculiarities  of  the  age  and  the  people,  and 
their  genuine  character;  but  the  essence  of  such  a  his- 
tory is  not  exhausted  by  this  means.  We  may  say  that 
history  is  presented  pragmatically,  when  not  only  facts 
are  stated,  whose  result  and  development  might  seem  to 
have  occurred  merely  by  accident,  but,  when  inquiry  is 
made  also,  particularly  into  their  causes  and  secret 
springs.  These  seldom  lie  so  deep  that  they  cannot  be 
brought  to  light. .  The  varied  motives  of  human  con- 
duct, and  often   the   slightest  traits,  open  the  human 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  7 

heart  to  us,  in  all  its  folds.  In  this  history,  especially, 
it  will  be  seen  how  often  religion  has  been  perverted 
into  a  pretext,  in  order  to  glut  passion  the  more 
securely.  Countless  transactions  may  seem  to  be 
engaged  in,  from  devotion  to  religion,  but  their  real 
sources  are  pride,  ambition,  and  other  poisoned  springs. 
Here,  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  slightest  occasions  are 
often  sufficient  to  produce  the  most  astounding  changes. 
A  dream  leads  to  a  truth,  which,  for  a  thousand  years, 
had  been  hidden  from  mortal  man.  llic  word  of  a  poor 
monk  shakes  a  monster,  which  had  scoffed  at  the  com- 
bined powers  of  the  world;  a  tree  decides  the  issue  of  a 
murderous  battle.  Call  it  accident — call  it  chance — 
whoever  believes  the  providence  of  God,  finds  in  these 
facts  the  confirmation  of  the  divine  word — that  not  even 
a  hair  shall  fall  from  our  head,  without  God's  know- 
ledge and  wdll. 

.  This  history  was  prepared  in  manuscript,  on  a  scale 
more  extended  than  that  in  which  it  appears  in  print; 
it  has  been  condensed  to  make  it  better  adapted  for  all 
readers.  For  the  learned,  therefore,  some  things  will 
be  too  briefly  stated,  and  for  Dilettanti,  others  too  dif- 
fusely. This  is  a  circumstance  which  I  could  not 
change,  without  failing  to  accomplish  my  purpose  of 
rendering  service  to  a  large  number;  and  yet  both 
classes  of  readers  will  find  enough  to  satisfy  them.  The 
man  of  learning,  to  whom  an  extensive  library  is  accessi- 
ble, will  find  a  road  prepared  upon  which  he  may  easily 
advance  farther — and  the  reader,  whose  engagements 
do  not  allow  the  leisure  requisite  for  laborious  investi- 
gations, has  in  tliCse  pages  a  short  resume  of  facts,  and 
with  this  he  will  be  content.  ^ 

I  feel  bound,  above  all,  to  mention  the  sources  from 
which  I  have  derived  the  History  of  the  Heidelberg 


8  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

Catechism.  Every  historian  who  wishes  to  earn  credit, 
is  bound  to  indicate  these  authorities.  The  more 
reliable  and  copious  these  sources  are,  and  the  more 
they  are  made  the  subjects  of  reference,  the  more  sure 
and  complete  will  be  the  knowledge  obtained  of  the 
history.  Without  these  authorities,  there  can  be  no 
accurate  acquaintance  with  the  subject,  and  no  faithful 
presentation  of  it. 

List  of  Autliorities. 

Sketcli  of  the  Church  History  of  the  Palatinate,  from  the  planting 
of  Christianity  in  the  regions  of  the  Rhine  and  the  Nekkar,  up  to  the 
death  of  the  Elector,  Charles  Philip,  1742.  By  D.  L.  Wundt.  (Ger- 
man.) 

Wei'rdtvein  nova  subs.  dipl.  ad  sel.  Juris  Eccl.  Germ. 

Kayser's  historischer  Schauplatz  der  Stadt  Heidelberg. 

D.  Parei  hist.  bav.  palat. 

Henry  Hottingeri  Bibliothec.  quadripart. 

Henry  Altingii  hist,  de  eccles.  palatin, 

Burk.  Gotth.  Struven's  ausflihrlicher  Bericht  von  der  pfalzischfen 
Kirchenhistorie. 

Akta  des  Gesprachs  zwischen  den  Pfalzischen  und  Wirtem- 
bergischen,  und  Gegenbericht  der  Pfalzischen  Theologen. 

Magazin  f  iir  die  Pfalzische  Kirchen-und  Gelehrten  Geschichte. 

Ludwig  Christ.  Mieg's  ausfiihrlicher  Bericht  von  der  Reformation 
der  Kirche  ein  Churpf. 

Rittmeyer's  Anmerkungen  iiber  den  Heidelbergischen  Katechis- 
muni,  nebst  den  christlichen  Erinnerungen. 

Putter's  systematische  Darstellung  der  Pfalzischen  Religious  besch- 
werden  nach  der  Lage  worin  sie  jetzt  sind. 

Authorities  on  the  Translations  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 

Martini  Lipenii  Biblioth.  theol. 

Jac.  Prieder.  Reimanni  eatal.  bibL  theol. 

J.  P.  Niceron.  Memoires  pouij  servir  a  I'histoire  des  hommes 
illustres. 

Heinrich  Ludolph  Bentheim  hdland.  Kirchen-und  Schulenstaat. 

Henry  Altingius  Script,  theol.  T.  III.  Historisch  kritische  na  ch 
richt  von  einer  sehr  selteueii  Aiisgabe  des  Held,  Katech. 


THE    EEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  9 

Authorities  on  the  Histori/  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  in  Sicifzerland. 

Kocher's  katechetische  Gcschichte. 
Jo.  Henry  Hottingeri  Biblioth.  quadripart. 

Joh.  Jacob  Hottinger's  Historie  der  Reformation  in  dor  Eid 
Genossenschaft. 

Abrah.  Ruchat,  Histoire  de  la  Reformation  de  la  Suisse. 

Hieronymus  Von  Alphen  prol.  cccon.  catechet. 

Conr.  Gcsneri,  Biblioth.     Theod.  Bezae.     Vita  Calvini. 

Authorities  in  relation  to  the  adoption  of  (he  Catechism  in  Holland. 

Geschicbte  dcs  Abfalls  der  vereinigten  Niederlande  von  der  Span- 
isclien  Regierung,  von  Fried.  Schiller. 

Famiani  Strada3  de  Bello  Belgico  Dccad.  I.  et  II. 

Emanuelis  Van  Meteren,  historie  der  Nederlandscher  ende  hrcrer 
Nabureu  orlogen  ende  geschiedenisse. 

Joh.  Christ.  Kochers  Katech.  Gesehichte  der  Reformirten  Kirche. 

Gerh.  Brandt,  historie  der  rcformatie. 

Joan.  Vytenbogairt  kcrkelyke  historie. 

Brantii  Vita  Arminii. 

Walsch's  Eiuleituiig  in  die  katech.  Gesehichte. 

Acta  Synodi  nationalis  Dordrechtana3. 

Henry  Lud.  Benthem,  Holl.  Kirchen  und  Schulen-staat. 

Jean  D'Outrein,  Vorbereitung  zu  dcm  Heid.  Katech. 

Jacob  Leydekker  Eere  van  de  nationale  Synode  von  Dordrecht. 

Ilieron.  Von  Alphen  prol.  oeconomiae  catech. 

Controversial  Writings  on  (he  Heidelberg  Catechism. 

Zacharias  Ursinus,  Streitschrift  die  seinien  Ubrigen  Werkon  und 
der  Ausgabe  des  Heidelbergischen  Katechismus  zu  Neustadt  an  der 
Hardt,  1575;  bei  gedruckt  ist. 

Ernst  Salomon  Cyprian  abgetrungener  Unterricht  von  kirchlicher 
Vereinigung  der  Protestanten. 

Burk.  Gotth.  Struve  Ausflihrlicher  Bericht  der  pfiilzischen 
Kirchen  historie.         •*■ 

Henr.  Altingii  hist.'de  eccles.  Palatin. 

Mart.  Lipenii  tlieol.  biblioth.  ' 

Joan.  Hoornbekii  Miscel. 

Valerii  Andr.  Desselii  biblioth.  Belgic. 


10  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Hicrony.  Von  Alplien  prol.  oecon.  catecli.  Palat. 

Ernst  Friedrich  Neubauer  Nachricht  von  den  jetztlebenden  ev. 
Luther,  und  Ref.  Theologen. 

Theod.  Strackii  epist.  nuncupat  viudic.  catecli. 

Ger.  Brandt,  hist,  der  reformat. 

Joan  Vytenbogairt  Kerkel  historie. 

Preestantium  ac  eruditorum  viroruni  epistolse  eccles. 

Casp.  Brantii  hist.  vitiB  Armin. 

Jac.  Leydekker  Eere  von  de  nationale  Synode  von  Dordrecht. 

Epistolae  Remonstrant. 

Haagsche  Conferentie. 

Sim.  Episcopii  examen  thesium  theolog. 

Jac.  Capelli  opera  theol. 

Limborchii  Vita  Episcopii. 

Theod.  Hasffii  de  nupera  Schoristorum  et  Hattemistorum  in  Bel- 
gico  secta  ej  usque  auctoribus  relatio  in  Museo  historio-philolog. 
theolog. 

Magazin  ftir  die  Pfiilz.  Kirchen  und  Gelehrten  Greschichte. 

Lud.  Chr.  Miegs  Ausfiihrlicher  Bericht. 

Rittmeyers  Anmerkungen  iiber  den  Heid.  Catech. 

Apologies  for  tlie  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
Besides  those  already  named : 

Bullingeri  responsio  apud  J.  Hottingerum  in  Bibl.  quadripart. 

Rudolphi  Hospiniani  hist.  Sa^ram.  Christoph.  Lehmauuus  de 
pace  relig.     Sleidanus  continuatus. 

Jac.  Lenfant  Discours  sur  le  Catechism. 

Lcescheri  hist.  Mart.  Joan  van  der  Sande  Epitome  Belg^.  hist. 
Acta  Synodi  nat.  Dordr.  Samuel  Maresius  in  foed.  Belg.  Orthodox. 
Herm.  Witsius  de  oecon.  foed.  Joan  A.  Marck  Merg  der  Christ. 
Godgeleerth. 

George  Christ.  Joannis  Miscel.  hist.  pol.  .  Fabers  Staatskanzlei. 
Europteische  Fama. 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  11 


HISTOEY    AXD    LITERATURE    OF     THE    HEIDELBERG 
CATECHISM. 

[Translated  from  the  German  of  Von  Alpen.] 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  events  which  give  charac- 
ter to  the  illustrious  sixteenth  century,  is  the  pubUcation 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  ;  to  the  Reformed  Church, 
certainly,  it  is  of  vast  interest  and  importance.  This 
Catechism,  which  was,  from  its  first  appearance,  cher- 
ished with  the  greatest  veneration  by  the  various  branches 
of  the  Reformed  Church,  was  designated  by  two  names. 
By  some  it  was  called  the  Catechism  of  the  Palatinate ; 
but  it  was  more  widely  known  as  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism. The  former  name  finds  its  origin  in  the  foct,  that 
it  was  prepared  in  the  Palatinate  for  the  benefit  of  the 
schools  and  churches  in  that  province,  and  was  first  intro- 
duced there ;  but  it  was  more  commonly  called  the  Heid- 
elberg Catechism  from  the  renowned  city  of  the  Palati- 
nate, Heidelberg,  on  the  Neckar,  where  it  was  prepared 
by  learned  men,  approved  by  a  National  Synod,  and  first 
published  in  printed  form. 

Heidelberg  was  renowned  for  its  University,  which  was 
founded  in  the  year  1346.  This  seat  of  learning  con- 
tributed greatly  to  the  education  and  cultivation  of  the 
Palatinate  and  circumjacent  country.  In  the  fifteenth 
century,  Jerome  of' Prague  came  to  Pleidelberg,  and  en- 
deavoured, but  with  indifi'erent  success,  to  give  currency 
to  his  doctrinal  views.  The  Elector  Frederic  I.  was,  at 
that  time,  the  reigning  prince.  His  character  resembled 
that  of  the  age ;  he  was  a  wild  man,  and  war-like,  but 


12  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE   OF 

devout  in  his  way,  in  accordance  with  the  idea  of  piety 
prevalent  in  that  age,  i  e.,  he  was  not  disposed  to  offer 
much  favour  to  new  doctrines ;  but  the  seed  which  was 
destined  so  soon  to  bear  fruit,  was  already  beginning  to 
germinate.  Under  the  reign  of  his  successor,  the  Elec- 
tor Philip,  science  began  to  exhibit  the  power  of  a  new 
life  in  the  E-henish  Palatinate.  John  of  Dahlberg, 
Bishop  of  Worms  and  Chancellor  of  the  Elector,  Theo- 
dore of  Pleiningen,  John  Wessel  of  Groningen,  Rudolph 
Agricola,  Jacob  Wimpfling,  John  Reichlin,  and  John 
Drittheim,  laboured  strenuously  for  the  intellectual  ad- 
vancement of  their  cotemporaries.  The  Elector  Philip 
rewarded  their  good  counsels  and  noble  endeavours  by  his 
cordial  personal  esteem  and  earnest  co-operation.  Much 
good  seed  was  sown  in  hope,  but  the  unhappy  war  of  the 
Bavarian  succession  suppressed  its  growth,  and  the  ter- 
rible devastation  of  the  Palatinate  checked  the  progress 
of  the  promised  reformation.  The  Elector  Philip  died 
in  1508.  He  was  succeeded  in  thq  government  by  his 
brother,  Lewis  the  Gentle.  The  Reformation  began 
during  his  reign.  The  favourite  tastes  of  this  Prince  were 
the  chase  and  architecture;  and  his  devotion  to  these 
pursuits  was  much  in  the  way  of  his  personal  interest  in 
the  religious  movements  of  this  period ;  but  his  peculiar 
goodness  of  heart,  the  happy  gentleness  of  his  disposi- 
tion, and  his  utter  aversion  to  all  religious  controversy 
secured  peace  to  his  country,  and  the  undisturbed  enjoy- 
ment of  life,  evign  to  the  friends  of  the  new  opinions.  In 
the  month  of  April,  1518,  the  Augustinian  monk,  Mar- 
tin Luther,  comes  from  Wittemberg  to  a  general  Chapter 
of  his  order  at  the  Augustinian  convent  in  Heidelberg. 
A  letter  of  recommendation  from  the  Elector  of  Saxony 
opens  his  way  to  qourt.  John  Hausschein,  called  Oeco- 
lampadius  (according  to  the  prevalent  mode  of  Helleni- 
cising  German  names),  had  already  impressed  the  young 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISJI.  13 

Count  "Wolfgang,  who  was  his  pupil,  with  a  favourable 
idea  of  this  remarkable  man,  and  Luther  finds  at  Heid- 
elberg more  friends  than  he  had  reckoned  in  anticipation. 
At  the  suggestion  of  his  Augustinian  brethren,  he  ap- 
points a  public  disputation,  and  finds  among  the  clear- 
est heads  of  the  young  men,  who  were  students  in  the 
University,  and  in  whom  his  reputation  had  awakaned 
great  personal  interest  in  The  3fan,  the  most  enthusias- 
tic approbation  and  applause.  Martin  Buccr,  Ehrhard 
Schnepf,  John  Brenz,  and  Theobald  Bilican,  together 
with  a  great  portion  of  the  German  nobility,  declared 
themselves  for  Luther.  These  men,  but  particularly 
Martin  Bucer  and  John  Oecolampadius,  laboured  with 
united  energy  in  spreading  the  Keformation,  which  is 
everywhere  introduced.  The  danger  of  the  utter  over- 
throw of  the  Papacy  aroused  the  zeal  of  the  opponents 
of  the  new  doctrine,  at  the  court  of  the  Elector  Louis. 
The  public  lectures  of  the  friends  of  Luther  are  forbid- 
den. John  Brenz  and  Theobald  Bilican  are  cited  to 
appear  before  the  Academic  Senate  and  the  electoral 
Chancellor  Florcntius  of  Wanningen,  to  give  account  of 
their  alleged  errors,  but  escape  all  further  punishment, 
beyond  the  prohibition  to  continue  their  public  lectures. 
The  Peasant  war  rouses  the  stormy  passions  of  the  people. 
Prince  Louis  succeeds  in  calming  the  tumult  in  his  prin- 
cipality, and  the  tragedy  has  not  so  many  sad  results  for 
the  reformation  of  these  provinces  as  had  been  appre- 
hended. Louis  died  March  16,  1544,  and  was  succeeded 
by  his  brother,  the  Elector  Frederic  II.  Thoroughly 
versed  in  the  religious  controversies  of  his  age,  and 
devoted  heart  aifd  soul  to  the  new  doctrine,  he  began, 
immediately  on  his  accession,  to  treat  with  the  Confed- 
erates of  the  League  of  Smalkald.  This  promoted  the 
practical  commencement  of  the  external  reformation  of 
the  Church*  iii  the   Palatinate  ;    but  before  it  could  be 


14  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

completed,  the  unfortunate  issue  of  the  war  put  an  end 
to  the  League..  The  disastrous  battle  of  Muhlberg, 
April  24,  1547,  where  the  leader  of  the  Protestants,  the 
Elector  of  Saxony,  lost  both  the  field  and  his  freedom, 
and  the  Prince  of  Hesse  also  became  the  Emperor's  pri- 
soner, gave  the  Emperor  power  to  institute  certain 
articles  of  agreement,  which  were  to  be  binding  until  a 
council  should  finally  settle  the  religious  doctrines  which 
were  in  dispute.  According  to  the  articles  of  this  so 
called  Interim,  all  the  seven  sacraments  were  to  be 
retained,  and  the  mass,  with  other  abrogated  ceremonies, 
was  to  be  restored  ;  even  the  absurd  doctrine  of  tran- 
substantiation  was  to  be  reinstated  in  the  public  faith. 
The  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  Frederic  II.,  purchased 
the  grace  of  the  Emperor  by  accepting  and  introducing 
the  Interim  in  his  principality.  But  opinions  once 
adopted  cannot  be  laid  aside  like  one's  clothes ;  the 
advocates  of  the  old  and  new  doctrine  continued  the 
same  as  before.  The  triumph  of  the  Emperor  by  a 
blessed  providence  was  not  of  long  duration.  He  was 
suddenly  attacked  and  surprised  by  Prince  Maurice,  and 
compelled  to  accord  complete  religious  liberty  to  Ger- 
many. The  memorable  treaty  of  Passau,  August  2, 
1552,  an  enduring  memorial  of  German  freedom 
against  the  outstretched  arm  of  Austrian  despotism, 
produced,  in  this  instance  also,  the  most  glorious  results. 
The  Elector  applied  the  income  of  ten  suppressed  and 
deserted  convents  to  the  endowment  of  the  University 
of  Heidelberg,  and  founded  a  scientific  college  in  this 
city.  The  annual  revenues  of  the.suppress.ed  convents 
were  estimated  by  the  Papal  l^uncio  at  630  ducats  of 
the  then  currency.  ^ 

The  Elector^  F];edcric  II..  died  at  Alzei,  February  26, 
1556,  the  father  and  benefactor  of  his  people  to  the  last 
moment  of  his  life.     The  disastrous  result  of  the  war  of 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  15 

the  Smalkaldian  League  greatly  depressed  his  s])irits 
and  made  him  weary  with  its  memories,  although  he 
remained  steadfastly  devoted  to  the  new  doctrine.  His 
successor  in  the  Principality,  Otto  Henry,  the  son  of  Fre- 
deric's elder  brother,  laboured  for  the  reformation  with 
greater  courage.  At  the  commencement  of  his  reign  he 
put  away  the  idolatrous  mass,  and  other  superstitious 
usages  of  the  Eomish  Church.  He  suppressed  the 
monastery  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  applied  the  revenues 
to  a  rational  and  useful  purpose,  viz.,  the  endowment  of 
the  University  of  Heidelberg,  and  the  better  support  of 
the  churches  and  schools.  He  ordered  the  pictures  in 
the  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  removed,  and  in  the 
city  of  Heidelberg  almost  every  thing  was  Protestant. 
He  ordered  the  preparation  of  a  new  Liturgy  and  offices 
for  public  worship.  These  were  composed  by  Henry 
Stolo,  Michael  Diller,  and  Dr.  Marbach,who  had  recently 
arrived  from  Strasburg,  and  were  put  in  print,  and  every- 
where introduced  by  his  authority.  In  order  to  secure 
the  observance  of  this  church  order,  Otto  Henry  insti- 
tuted, under  the  name  of  the  Church  Council,  a  new 
College,  to  which  he  entrusted  the  general  oversight  of 
the  Church  in  the  Palatinate.  The  first  members  of  this 
board  were  the  Court  Preacher,  Michael  Diller,  and  the 
two  electoral  counsellors,  Christopher  Ehem  and  Thomas 
Craft,  and  to  these,  A.  D.  1557,  on  the  recommendation 
of  P.  Melancthon,  the  new  Superintendent,  Thieleman 
Hesshus,  was  added.  Several  more  convents,  for  the 
most  part  deserted,  were  suppressed.  Zwingli  had  already 
some  friends  in  the.  Palatinate,  and  gradually  three  dis- 
tinct parties  were'Organized  in  Heidelberg,  who  main- 
tained and  propagated  difterent  opinions,  especially  with 
respect  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  the  points  of  doctrine 
in  dispute  between  Luther  and  Zwingli;  strict  followers 
of  Luther,  Philippists,  and   Zwinglians.     The  Elector 


16  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE  OF 

Otto  Henry  died  February  12,  1559.  Gentle  and  kind 
as  his  own  heart  was  his  reign.  Patient  endurance  of 
affliction,  temperate  enjoyment  of  prosperity,  humane 
toleration  of  those  who  rejected  his  own  religious  opin- 
ions, rear  for  him  a  more  enduring  memorial  than  the 
monument  which  he  ordered  to  be  erected  to  his  me- 
mory in  the  church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  which 
occasioned  the  bitter  disputes  that  arose  under  the  admin- 
istration of  his  successor.  His  successor  was  a  great 
Prince,  whose  name  is  dear  to  the  Reformed  Church, 
who  was  the  originator  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism; 
and  by  its  means  gave  endurance  and  perpetuity  to  the 
Reformed  Church.  His  name  can  never  be  forgotten. 
Apart  from  all  the  insignia  of  princely  power,  he  was  a 
truly  great  man.  For  schools  of  learning  and  benevo- 
lent institutions,  he  did  more  than  all  his  predecessors 
had  effected.  The  entire  revenue  of  the  suppressed  con- 
vents was  devoted  to  these  objects.  He  renounced  the 
customary  pomp  of  the  court,  ancj  introduced  a  simple 
style  of  living,  in  order  to  enable  him  to  devote  twenty 
thousand  ducats  of  his  yearly  revenues  to  the  endow- 
ment of  seats  of  learning  and  charitable  institutions. 
With  a  diligence  that  never  abated,  he  proved  the  sys- 
tems of  doctrine  which  then  divided  religious  attention, 
and  adhered  with  warm  and  unshaken  devotion  to  that 
form  of  faith,  which,  after  painful  and  earnest  thought, 
he  had  adopted  as  the  truth.  The  -successor  of  Otto 
Henry,  who  was  childless,  was  Frederic  the  Third  of 
Simmern.  At  the  commencement  of  his  administration, 
he  gave  evidence  of  his  preference  for  the.  Zwinglians, 
and  also  of  a  wisdom  which  was  rarely  exhibited  by  the 
princes  of  that  age.  The  fire  which  had  ghmmered  for 
some  time  under.the  ashes,,  broke  out  into  flames  of  vehe- 
ment controversy  in  the  early  part  of  his  reign.  Thiele- 
man  Hesshus  accused   Bernard  Hexammer,  a  learned 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  17 

professor   at   Edenkoben,   of  Zwinglian   opinions,  and 
refuted  on  this  occasion  certain  dogmas,  which,  accord- 
ing to  his  representation,  were  maintained  by  Calvin  and 
Zwingli.     The  Superintendent's   deacon,  William  Kle- 
bitz,  reproached  him  in  writing  with  having  misrepre- 
sented these  doctrines.     This  private  controversy  broke 
out  into  a  public  dispute  on  the  occasion  of  the  promo- 
tion of  Stephen   Sylvius   of  Groningen   to  a  doctor's 
degree,  and  the  University,  incensed  by  the  proud  and 
despotic   bearing  of  Hesshus,  took  part  in  the  quarrel. 
These  occurrences  gave  the  existing  parties  the  opportu- 
nity of  consolidating  their  strength,  and  standing  out  in 
open  antagonism.     The  strict  Lutheran  party  espoused 
the  side  of  the  Superintendent.    The  Philippists  and  the 
Zwinglians  quietly  united  against  their  common  oppo- 
nent, and   soon  were  welded  into  one  party.     Through 
their  support,  William  Klebitz  obtained  from  tlie  Uni- 
versity, in  the  absence  of  Hesshus,  the  honour  of  a  bache- 
lorship in  theology,  and  now  openly  defended  the  Theses, 
which   Hesshus,   on   his    return,  condemned  as  errors. 
Unfortunately,  the  new  Elector  had  made  a  journey  to 
Augsburg,  having,  before  his  departure,  enjoined  silence 
on  both  the  disputant  parties.   They  thus  gained  a  wide 
scope  for  their  controversy ;   most  of  the  preachers  took 
part  in  the  strife,  and  the  pulpit  was  degraded  to  a  plat- 
form on  which  embittered  passions  were  displayed.  The 
electoral   Mayor,  Count   George  of  Erbach,  did  all  he 
could,  and  commanded  the  disputants  to  await  the  return 
of  the    Prince,   and  in  the    meantime,  to  keep   quiet. 
Thielemann   Hesshus,  instead  of  yielding  his  assent  to 
this  praiseworthy  coiunsel,  placed  the  Count  and  Deacon 
Klebitz   under   the'  ban  of  the  Church.     Tljie   smaller 
number  of  the  wiser  and  more  moderate  men,  laboured 
in  vain  to  make  peace  between  the  enraged  parties. 
At  length  the*  Elector  returned  from   Augsburg,  and 

0 


18  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE   OF 

attempted  to  pacify  them  by  a  reunion.  In  vain!  The 
angry  quarrel  still  rings  from  the  pulpit.  Thielemann 
Hesshus  and  Deacon  Klebitz  are  both  dismissed  from 
their  stations,  and  peace  is  restored.  In  order  to  make 
this  permanent,  the  Prince  takes  counsel  of  Philip 
Melanchthon,  and  introduces  the  alteration  of  the  formula 
for  the  celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  suggested  by 
this  noble  and  gentle  man.  The  strict  Lutheran  party 
is  not  content  with  this  modification ;  some  preachers 
are  dismissed,  and  the  electoral  Judge,  Erasmus  Von 
Wanningen,  resigns  his  office  ;  but  the  entire  party  has 
so  diminished  in  the  course  of  the  controversy,  both  in 
numbers  and  influence,  that  the  Philippist  and  Zwin- 
glian  party  are  altogether  in  the  ascendant.  Prince 
John  Frederic  of  Saxony,  son-in-law  of  the  Elector,  a 
violent  enemy  of  the  Philippists,  comes  with  his  bro- 
ther, John  William,  to  Heidelberg,  accompanied  by 
Maximilian  Morlin  and  John  Sto^ssel,  two  Saxon  theo- 
logians, who  are,  according  to  his  plan,  to  gain  a  victory 
over  the  Heidelberg  doctors.  The  two  princes  take 
great  pains,  but  all  to  no  purpose,  to  change  the  mind 
of  the  Elector.  Frederic  investigates  the  doctrinal  basis 
and  forms  of  both  parties,  and  after  a  careful  personal 
proving  of  them  all,  holds  fast  to  the  Zwinglian  doctrine. 
Still,  he  is  of  the  opinion,  that  external  church  fellowship 
with  other  German  Protestants  may  be  maintained,  not- 
withstanding their  various  opinions  and  modes  of  pre- 
senting doctrinal  views,  and  therefore,  without  hesitation, 
he  allows  the  Saxon  theologians  to  preach  in  the  pulpits 
of  Heidelberg.  His  two  sonsrin-law  are, of  a  difterent 
opinion.  At  their  request^  a  public  discussion  is  insti- 
tuted between  the  Palatinate  and  Saxon  theologians,  but 
its  issue  is  unprpfitable.  '_Th,e  two  Princes  leave  Heid- 
elberg in  great  displeasure,  and  tlie  means  employed  by 
them  to  detach  the  Elector  from  his  Zwinglian  convic- 


TOE    HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  19 

tions,  produce,  to  their  great  disgust,  the  very  opposite 
result.  Frederic  now  introduces  a  change  in  external 
ecclesiastical  order,  and  the  Church  of  the  Palatinate 
adopts  the  forms  and  order  of  worship  of  the  Swiss 
Church.  The  Scientific  College  is  transformed  into  a 
theological  seminary;  monasteries  and  convents  are  gra- 
dually suppressed ;  the  confiscated  revenues  are  em- 
ployed to  the  support  of  the  Church,  to  the  establish- 
ment of  new  schools,  to  the  education  of  poor  orphans, 
and  the  sustenance  of  sick  and  infirm  persons. 

After  Frederic  III.  had  thus  wholly  identified  himself 
with  the  lleformed  party,  and  had  manned  the  Univer- 
sity of  Heidelberg  with  theologians  of  the  same  persua- 
sion, he  turned  his  undivided  attention  to  the  preparation 
of  a  Catechism  for  the  churches  and  schools  in  his  pro- 
vinces. The  reasons  which  impelled  him  to  this  step, 
are  set  forth  by  himself  in  a  prefiice,  which  is  prefixed 
to  the  first  editions  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  We,  Frederic,  of  this  name  the  Third,  by  the  grace 
of  God,  Elector  Palatine  on  the  Rhine,  &c.,  present  to 
all  and  each  of  our  Superintendents,  Pastors,  Preachers. 
Officers  of  the  Church,  and  Schoolmasters,  throughout 
the  whole  Province  of  the  llhenish  Palatinate,  our 
kindest  greeting,  and  do  them,  herewith,  to  wit: — Inas- 
much as  we  acknowledge,  that  we  are  bound  by  the 
admonition  of  the  Divine  word,  and  also  by  natural  duty 
and  relation,  and  have  finally  determined  to  order  and  ad- 
minister our  office,  calling,  and  government,  not  only  to 
the  promotion  and  maintenance  of  quiet  and  peaceable 
living,  and  to  the  support  of  upright  and  virtuous  walk 
and  conversation  aiiiong  our  subjects,  but  also  and  above 
all,  constantly  to  admonish  and  lead  them  to  devout  know 
ledge  and  fear  of  the  Almighty  and  his  holy  word  of 
salvation,  as  tke  only  foundation  of  all  virtue  and  obedi- 


20  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE   OF 

ence,  and  to  spare  no  pains,  so  far  as  in  us  lies,  with  all 
sincerity  to  promote  their  temporal  and  eternal  welfare, 
and  contribute  to  the  defence  and  maintenance  of  the 
same ;  and,  although  apprised  on  entering  upon  our 
government,  how  our  dear  cousins  and  predecessors, 
Counts  Palatine,  Electors,  &c.,  of  noble  and  blessed 
memory,  have  instituted  and  proposed  divers  Christian 
and  profitable  measures  and  appliances  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  glory  of  God  and  the  upholding  of  civil  dis- 
cipline and  order — notwithstanding  this  purpose  was  not 
in  every  respect  prosecuted  with  the  appropriate  zeal, 
and  the  expected  and  desired  fruit  did  not  accrue  there- 
from— we  are  now  induced  not  only  to  renew  the  same, 
but  also,  as  the  exigencies  of  the  times  demand,  to  im- 
prove, reform,  and  further  to  establish  them;  therefore, 
we  also  having  ascertained  that  by  no  means  the  least 
defect  of  our  system  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  our  bloom- 
ing youth  is  disposed  to  be  careless  in  respect  to  Chris- 
tian doctrine,  both  in  the  schools  ^and  churches  of  our 
principality — some,  indeed,  being  entirely  without  Chris- 
tian instruction,  others  being  imsystematically  taught, 
without  any  established,  certain,  and  clear  catechism, 
but  merely  according  to  individual  plan  or  judgment ; 
from  which,  among  other  great  defects,  the  consequence 
has  ensued,  that  they  have,  in  too  many  instances,  grown 
up  without  the  fear  of  God  and  the  knowledge  of  his 
word,  having  enjoyed  no  profitable  instruction,  or  other- 
wise have  been  perplexed  with  irrelevant  and  needless 
questions,  and  at  times  burdened  with  unsound  doctrine 
— and  now,  whereas  both  temporal  and  spiritual  offices, 
government  and  family  discipline,  cannot  otherwise  be 
maintained — and  in  order  that  discipline  and  obedience 
to  authority  and,  all  other_ virtues  may  increase  and  be 
multiplied  among  subjects — it  is  essential  that  our  youth 
be  trained  in  early  life,  and  aibove  all,  in  the  pure  and 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM,  21 

consistent  doctrine  of  the  holy  gospel,  and  be  well  exer- 
cised in  the  proper  and  true  knowledge  of  God: 
Therefore,  we  have  regarded  it  as  a  high  obligation,  and 
as  the  most  important  duty  of  our  government,  to  give 
attention  to  this  matter,  to  do  away  with  this  defect,  and 
introduce  the  needful  improvements; — and  accordingly, 
with  the  advice  and  cooperation  of  our  entire  theologi- 
cal faculty  in  this  place,  and  of  all  Superintendents  and 
distinguished  servants  of  the  Church,  we  have  secured 
the  preparation  of  a  summary  course  of  instruction,  or 
Catechism  of  our  Christian  Religion,  according  to  the 
word  of  God,  in  the  German  and  Latin  language ;  in 
order  not  only  that  the  youth  in  churches  and  schools 
may  be  piously  instructed  in  such  Christian  doctrine,  and 
be  thoroughly  trained  therein,  but  also  that  the  Pastors 
and  Schoolmasters  themselves  may  be  provided  with  a 
fixed  form  and  model,  by  which  to  regulate  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth,  and  not,  at  their  option,  adopt  daily 
changes,  or  introduce  erroneous  doctrine — and  we  do 
herewith  affectionately  admonish  and  enjoin  upon 
every  one  of  you,  that  you  do,  for  the  honour  of  God  and 
our  subjects,  and  also  for  the  sake  of  your  own  soul's 
profit  and  welfare,  thankfully  accept  this  proffered  Cate- 
chism, or  course  of  instruction,  and  that  you  do  dili- 
gentlv  and  faithfully  represent  and  explain  the  same 
according  to  its  true  import,  to  the  youth  in  our  schools, 
and  churches,  and  also  from  the  pulpit  to  the  common 
people,  that  you  teach,  and  act,  and  live  in  accordance 
with  it,  in  the  assured  hope,  that  if  our  youth  in  early 
life  arc  earnestly  instructed  and  educated  in  the  word  of 
God,  it  will  please  Almighty  God  also  to  grant  reforma- 
tion of  public  and  private  morals,  and  ten-jporal  and 
eternal  welfare.  Desiring,  as  above  said,  that  all  this 
may  be  accomplished,  we  have  made  this  provision. 
"Given  at  -Heidelberg,  Tuesday,  the  nineteenth  of 


22  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE    OF 

January,  in  the  year  1563  after  the  birth  of  Christ,  our 
dear  Lord  and  Saviour." 

Henry  Alting,  commenting  upon  this  preface,  observes, 
that  there  was  a  necessity  for  the  preparation  of  a  new 
Catechism,  on  two  grounds:  because,  in  the  first  place, 
in  addition  to  the  Catechism  of  Brentius,  adopted  by 
the  Elector  Otto  Henry,  Luther's  Catechism  had  been 
introduced  by  Hesshus,  and  besides,  others  had  been 
adopted,  according  to  individual  preference,  thus  giving 
occasion  to  continual  quarrels;  and  secondly,  in  order 
that  a  single,  accredited  form  might  be  used  in  all  the 
churches  of  the  Palatinate,  thus  securing  agreement, 
especially  one  in  which,  among  other  doctrines  of  reli- 
gious belief,  the  doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  of  the  sacraments  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper, 
should  be  clearly  and  soundly  set  forth.  Niceron,  in 
his  memoirs,  quotes  an  author  whom  he  does  not  name, 
who  supposes  that  the  Elector  ordered  the  preparation 
of  the  Catechism  for  the  purpose  of  uniting  the  Calvin- 
ists  and  Lutherans,  and  thus  arresting  the  farther  pro- 
gress of  alienation  between  them. 

The  arrangement  and  perfection  of  the  new  Catechism 
was  entrusted  by  the  Elector  to  two  learned  men,  Cas- 
par Olevianus  and  Zachariah  Ursinus,  in  the  year  1562. 
They  had  both  been  recently  called  to  Heidelberg;  both 
were  very  young  men,  having  scarcely  entered  upon 
their  twenty-sixth  year;  but  they  wel'e,  both,  the  most 
talented  and  distinguished  men  of  their  age,  and  the 
most  esteemed  teachers  in  the  Reformed  Church.  Ursi- 
nus was  Professor  in  the  University  and  Scientific  Col- 
lege in  Heidelberg.  Olevianus  was  the  favourite  and 
the  Court  preacher  of  the  PHnce.  Both  were  Oermans, 
and  accustome^d  to  write  in-the  German  language.  Both 
participated  equally  in  the  materiel  of  the  work;  the 
form  of  the  Catechism  was  furlaished  by  Ursinus.     Each 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  23 

of  them  prepared  a  composition  of  his  own.     Olevianns 
had  arranged  his  as  a  comprehensive  and  simple  expo- 
sition of  the  Covenant  of  Grace.     Ursinus,  on  the  other 
hand,  prepared  a  double  Catechism— a  larger  one  for 
such  as  had  made  some  progress  in  the  experience  of 
Divine  truth,  and  a  smaller  one  for  children  and  begin- 
ners.    Such  was  the  origin  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
Kot  only  did  these  two  learned  men  labour  in  its  prepa- 
ration, but  the  Elector,  Frederic  himself,  took  part  in 
the  arrangement  and  perfection  of  the  Catechism.     This 
is  the  declaration  of  the  Heidelberg  theologians  in  the 
Christian  memorial  upon  the  catholic  remarks  upon  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  as  made  to  Counsellor  llittmayer: 
"Although  the  Elector  availed  himself  of  the  services 
of  the  Palatinate  doctors,  Ursinus  and  Olevianus,  in  the 
preparation  of  the  Catechism,  yet  they  did  not  venture 
to  insert  anything  which  the  Elector  had  not  approved." 
A  memorial  is  also  extant,  in  his  hand-writing,  from 
which  it  appears  that  the  very  words  were  submitted  to 
his  approval.     For,  in  it,  he  writes  thus:  "The  answer 
in   the    Catechism   on   the   question,    'Does   then   the 
bread  and  wine  become  the  real  body  and  blood  of 
Christr  was  originally  in  these  words:  'Just  as  little  as 
before,  out  of  the  body  of  Christ,  a  real,  natural  bread 
had  been  present,  when   He   calls  himself  the  living 
Bread,  and  was  yet  true  in  what  He  said.'     This  answer 
is  taken  almost  word  for  word  from  the  Greek  discourses 
of  Theodoret;  but  it  was  changed  and  put  into  its  pre- 
sent form,  in  order  to  avoid  the  impression  that  it  was 
intended  to  represent  the  Sacrament  as  a  mere  emblem, 
or  sign;  if  this  Catechism  might  be  adopted  with  this 
singfe  alteration,  I  should  not  only  be  content,  but  I 
believe  it  would  conduce  to  the  glory  of  God,  as  well  as 
afford  me  pecahar  pleasure." 

After  th  J  Catechism  had  been  thus  prepared,  it  was 


24  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

submitted  to  his  electoral  highness.  Frederick  here- 
upon convened  a  Synod  at  Heidelberg,  A.  D.,  1562, 
consigned  the  new  Catechism  to  the  superintendents  and 
pastors  of  the  whole  Palatinate,  and  commended  it  to 
their  close  and  accurate  examination,  in  order  that  they 
might  pass  a  just  opinion  upon  its  merits.  This  they 
did  in  several  sessions,  examined  it  conscientiously  and 
carefully,  according  to  the  prescription  of  the  Divine 
word,  and  were  filled  with  admiration  at  the  clear 
apprehension  of  the  doctrines  of  Scripture,  by  which  it 
was  marked,  at  the  just  expression  of  the  Reformed  idea 
of  the  doctrinal  system,  and  with  one  voice  commended 
and  approved  it,  requesting  the  proper  authorities  to 
furnish  it  in  printed  form.  At  the  same  time,  the  com- 
mission was  given  to  Joshua  Lago,  a  preacher  at  Heidel- 
berg, and  Lambert  Pithozaeus,  an  efficient  schoolmaster, 
who  had  come  to  Heidelberg  from  Deventer,  to  trans- 
late the  approved  Catechism  into  the  Latin  language, 
in  order  that  it  might  be  used  in  the  Latin  schools, 
gymnasia,  and  colleges  of  the  Palatinate.  His  transla- 
tion was  soon  ready,  and  by  the  direction  of  the  Elector, 
it  was  printed,  and  the  Catechism  was  published  in  both 
languages,  Latin  and  German,  under  the  following  title: 
"Catechism,  or  Christian  Instruction,  as  taught  in  the 
Churches  and  Schools  of  the  Electoral  Palatinate. 
Printed  in  the  city  of  Heidelberg  by  John  Mayer, 
1563."  The  order  of  the  Elector,  above  presented,  was 
printed  as  a  preface.  Both  impressions,  the  Latin  as 
well  as  the  German,  may  be  regarded  as  original  edi- 
tions ;  but  the  German  edition  will  retain  its  claim  as 
the  authentic  edition,  because  the  Catechism  was  origi- 
nally composed  in  the  German  language;  and  Henry 
Alting,  in  his  history  of  the  Church  of  the  Palatinate, 
justly  remarks*:  "The  only  authentic  edition  is  the  Ger- 
man, in  which  not  only  is  everything  presented  more 


THE    HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  25 

elegantly,  but  also  with  greater  impressivcness  aiul 
emphasis."  This  first  edition,  which  is  now  very  rare, 
had  much  which  was  peculiar  to  it,  and  differed  from 
our  present  editions.  The  division  of  the  Catechism 
into  Lord's  Days,  was  not  yet  adopted.  The  questions 
also  were  not  separate  and  marked.  Questions  and 
answers  follow  one  another  without  being  numbered. 
The  proof-texts  are  not  numerous,  and  are  very  awk- 
wardly inserted.  The  eightieth  question  is  entirely 
wanting.  The  reason  of  this  omission  is  not  known. 
The  first  edition  was  speedily  exhausted ;  it  was  imme- 
diately followed  by  a  new  one,  with  the  title:  "Cate- 
chism, or  Christian  Instruction,  as  tauglit  in  the  Churches 
and  Schools  of  the  Palatinate.  Printed  in  the  city  of 
Heidelberg  by  John  Mayer,  1563."  We  might  be 
tempted  to  believe  that  this  edition  is  the  same  as  the 
first;  but  on  the  last  page  we  read  a  notice  wliich  at 
once  removes  all  doubt,  in  the  words:  "That  whicli  was 
overlooked  in  the  first  impression,  especially  folio  oo, 
is  now,  by  order  of  the  Elector,  appended,"  If  we 
read  this  page,  we  find  that  it  is  the  eightieth  question 
which  treats  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  Popish  mass. 
The  Elector,  therefore,  had  already  more  courage.  He 
allowed  this  question,  which  he  perhaps  had  left  out  on 
account  of  the  Papists,  to  be  boldly  printed;  but  the 
close  of  the  question  was  not  yet  as  it  now  stands  in  our 
Catechisms.  The  close  was  then  in  these  words:  "And 
the  mass  is,  in  fact,  nothing  but  an  idolatrous  denial  of 
the  only  sacrifice  and  passion  of  Jesus  Christ." 

In  the  same  year,  and  under  the  auspices  of  the  same 
publisher,  a  third  edition  was  issued.  In  one  edition 
of  this  same  year,'  we  find  the  closing  words  of  the 
eightieth  question  expressed  in  the  following  style: 
"And  the  mass  is,  therefore,  in  fact  nothing  else  than  a 
denial  of  the  ©nly  sacrifice  and  passion  of  Jesus  Christ, 


26  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE   OF 

and  an  accursed  idolatry."  It  may  indeed  be  objected, 
that,  in  the  midst  of  the  printing  of  the  second  edition, 
an  alteration  had  been  effecte4  in  the  eightieth  question, 
and  that  thus  the  variation  may  be  accounted  for ;  but 
it  is  more  natural  to  suppose  that  it  was  a  third  edition. 

The  inconvenience  resulting  from  the  indiscriminate 
succession  of  the  questions  and  answers  without  division 
or  numbers,  was  soon  perceived,  and  it  was  therefore 
remedied,  A  new  fourth  edition  was  prepared  with  the 
title:  "Catechism,  or  Christian  Instruction,  as  taught  in 
the  Churches  and  Schools  of  the  Palatinate;  together 
with  the  Church  ceremonies  and  prayers.  Printed  anew, 
with  the  addition  of  the  verses.  Printed  in  the  city  of 
Heidelberg  by  John  Mayer,  1573."  In  this  edition  we 
find  the  usual  division  of  our  Catechism  into  distinct 
Lord's  Days.  The  questions  and  answers  no  longer 
follow  in  indiscriminate  succession,  but  are  designated 
with  numbers. 

The  most  valuable  edition  .was ,  published  at  Neustadt 
on  the  Hardt,  with  the  title:  "Catechism,  or  short  com- 
pendium of  Christian  doctrine ;  together  with  the  Church 
ceremonies,  prayers,  and  complete  proof-texts  from 
Holy  Scripture.  Also,  the  Refutation,  by  the  Theolo- 
gians of  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  of  the  unjust 
imputations  and  misrepresentation  with  which  said 
Catechism,  and  the  testimony  adduced  in  it  from  sacred 
Scripture,  have  been,  by  some  persons,  unjustifiably 
assailed.  Also,  Doctor  Martin  Luther's  opinion  respect- 
ing the  breaking  of  bread  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  Also, 
the  answer  and  questions  in  reply  to  six  questions  con- 
cerning the  Lord's  Supper,  and  in  what  articles,  the 
evangelical  churches  are  uiiited,  and  in  what  they  differ 
concerning  the.  Holy  Communion,  proposed  by  Zacha- 
riah  Ursinus.  Neustadt  on  the  Hardt."  On  the  last 
page,  besides  the  place,  the**  year  of  this  impression  is 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  "J 7 

also  noted:  "Printed  at  Xeustadt  on  the  Ilaidt,  anno 
MUXCV."  This  edition  is  the  most  valuable;  the 
apologies  which  it  contains,  are  masterly. 

The  contents  of  the  Catechism  are  as  follows:  One 
hundred  and  twenty-nine  questions  and  answers  consti- 
tute the  matter  of  its  composition,  and  these  are  divided 
into  fifty-two  Lord's  Days.  The  Treatise  consists  of 
three  parts,  the  order  and  connection  of  which  arc  pre- 
sented in  the  second  question  and  answer.  The  first 
part  treats  of  man's  miser}',  from  the  third  question  to 
the  eleventh;  the  second,  of  man's  deliverance,  from  the 
twelfth  to  the  eighty-fifth  question;  the  third,  of  grati- 
tude, from  the  eighty-sixth  question  to  the  close.  In 
these  parts,  the  dogmatic  and  moral  import  of  catecheti- 
cal theology  are  discussed ;  namely,  in  the  first  part,  the 
doctrines  of  sin  and  the  punishment  of  sin;  in  the 
second,  the  doctrines  of  deliverance,  the  apostle's  creed, 
doctrine  of  Justification,  and  the  Sacraments;  in  the 
third,  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the  I^ord's  Prayer. 
This  division  the  authors  chose  according  to  the  model 
of  sacred  Scripture.  Ursinus  expresses  his  views  on 
this  point  very  forcibly,  in  his  Prolegomena  to  tlie  Body 
of  Orthodox  doctrine,  or  to  the  Catholic  expositions 
which  were  published  by  Dr.  David  Parens.  Theodore 
Strack,  in  his  Catechetical  Vindications;  John  D'Outrein, 
in  the  Golden  Treasury  of  the  Doctrine  of  Truth,  accord- 
ing to  Godliness;  and  Jerome  Van  Alphon,  in  his  Pro- 
logue to  the  Economy  of  the  Palatinate  Catechism, 
maintain,  that  the  autliors  of  tlie  Heidelberg  Catechism 
followed  the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  llomans,  in  the  order 
of  the  subjects  which  are  introduced;  thus,  we  find,  first, 
concerning  man's  misery.  Chap.  I — III. ;  of  deliverance, 
Chap.  Ill — XL;  and  of  gratitude,  Chap.  XII— XVI. 

The  Catechism  will  always  appear  admirable,  if  it  is 
judged  in  th»  light  of  that  age.     Beautiful  is  that  first 


28  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

question  at  the  beginning  of  the  Catechism,  and  it  will 
always  be  held  as  a  masterpiece  in  the  estimation  of 
every  discriminating  reader.  The  very  pith  and  mar- 
row of  the  whole  Christian  religion  is  nowhere  presented, 
either  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  in  words  so  few  and 
yet  so  weighty.  In  what  a  captivating  and  lovely  aspect 
the  object  and  design  of  the  Christian  religion  are  pre- 
sented 1  How  every  thing  in  religion  is  made  to  bear  on 
the  practice]  What  doctrine  of  Christian  faith  is  not 
included  in  this  question'?  What  expression  can  be  indi- 
cated, which  does  not  insist  upon  practical  obedience  to 
the  precepts  of  Christ  ■?  What  motives,  what  incentives, 
what  means,  are  here  laid  to  our  hands,  to  render  the 
practice  of  Christian  virtues  easy!  And  all  this  in  that 
age!  Beautiful  and  beyond  all  commendation  is  the 
twenty-eighth  question ;  and  the  exposition  of  the  Apos- 
tle's Creed,  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  is,  to  this  day,  the  admiration  of  every  theologi- 
cal scholar.  No  Catechism  up  to  that  period  had  so 
clearly,  comprehensively,  and  truly  presented  the  dis- 
tinctive doctrines  of  the  Reformed  Church,  as  the  Heid- 
elberg. Even  Zwingli's  and  Calvin's  Catechism  had 
given  no  such  clear  and  beautiful  exhibition  of  these 
great  truths. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Person  of  Christ,  of  the  Eternal 
Godhead  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  of  Justifi- 
cation, and  especially  that  of  the  Sacraments,  were  more 
clearly  expressed  than  the  statements  of  Zwingli  and 
Calvin  on  the  same  subjects.  In  the  division  of  the  Ten 
Commandments,  the  Catechism  follows  in.  the  first,  the 
Origenian  analysis,  and  in  this  respect,  it  differs  frpm 
other  Churches.  In  relation  to  the  doctrine  of  election 
and  church  disci^iline,  tha.Catechism  maintains  a  happy 
medium,  because  these  subjects  were,  in  that  period, 
matters  of  bitter  controversy.     The  strict. doctrine  of 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  29 

Calvin  respecting  unconditional  election,  is  not  stated  in 
round,  full  terms;  indeed,  men  of  great  learning,  sucli 
as  Hugo  Grotius,  Holzfus,  Jablonski,  John  Fabricius,  and 
others,  in  the  answer  to  the  thirty-seventh  question,  in 
which  it  is  asserted  that  Christ  endured  the  wrath  of 
God  against  the  sin  of  the  whole  human  race,  insist  that 
there  is  a  confession  of  the  general  grace  of  God,  and  of 
the  redemption  of  all  men  through  Christ;  but  all  expo- 
sitors of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  have  liitlierto 
declared  against  this  view. 

"Christ,"  for  so  they  explain  tlie  passage,  "has  en- 
dured the  wrath  of  God  against  the  sin  of  the  whole 
human  race,  not  as  though  lie  had  reconciled  all  men, 
the  lost  as  well  as  the  elect,  and  had  procured  for  all 
the  forgiveness  of  sin.  This,  Christ  himself  denies;  but 
Christ  has  suffered  for  the  whole  human  race,  first,  in 
this  respect,  that  his  atonement  and  passion  are  perfect 
and  sufficient,  because,  in  themselves  considered,  Christ's 
sacrifice  and  passion  are  of  such  value,  that  tlu  y  are 
sufficient  for  all  men  and  for  every  individual  of  the 
liuman  race;  and  further,  because  they  are  the  atone- 
ment and  suffering,  not  merely  of  a  righteous  man,  but 
of  the  true  and  eternal  God.  Then,  also,  Christ  has 
suffered  for  the  whole  human  race,  in  this  respect,  be- 
cause all  men  and  every  individual  of  the  human  race 
in  the  whole  world,  who  are  deli\ered  from  the  wrath  of 
God,  find  reconciliation  with  God  alone  through  Christ. 
Finally,  the  whole  world  denotes  nothing  else  than  the 
whole  company  of  the  elect  and  faithful."  John  D'Out- 
rein  also  explains  "the  wrath  of  God  against  the  sin 
of  the  whole  human  race,"  as  meaning  all  the  elect  out 
of  the  whole  human  family,  against  the  Remonstrants 
and  other  partisans,  of  the  general  grace  and  atonement 
of  Christ.  The  whole  assembly  of  lleformcd  divines  at 
the  Conventioii  of  The  Hague,  answers  the  Remonstrants, 


30  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

who  refer  to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  in  vindication  of 
their  doctrine  of  general  atonement:  "'If  you  will  com- 
pare this  passage  with  the  other  which  we  also  adduce 
from  the  Catechism,  you  may  readily  perceive  that  the 
expression,  the  whole  human  race,  is  to  be  understood,  not 
of  all  and  every  one. without  exception,  even  unbeliev- 
ers, impenitent,  and  such  as  persist  in  their  unbelief  and 
impenitence,  who,  on  account  of  their  sins,  shall  endure 
the  wrath  of  God  for  ever;  but  only  of  believers  in  the 
whole  world,  of  whatever  country  or  people  they  may 
be.  This  is  certainly  plain  from  the  answer,  for  it  is 
expressly  said,  '  that  so,  by  his  passion,  as  the  only  pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice,  he  might  redeem  our  body  and  soul 
from  everlasting  damnation,  and  obtain  for  us' — not  for 
all  and  every  one,  as  the  brethren  say,  but  for  us,  i.  e., 
for  believers — 'the  favour  of  God,  righteousness,  and 
eternal  life.'     This  answer  concerns  only  believers." 

In  order  to  form  a  correct  opinion  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  and  to  appreciate  its  beauty  and  excellence, 
we  must  not  be  controlled  by  expositions,  but  adhere  to 
its  original  source. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  aroused  an  uncommon  sen- 
sation  and  ferment  in  all  the  churches.  It  encountered 
friends  and  foes;  it  was  eulogized  and  denounced;. it  was 
assailed  and  defended.  Throughout  the  Palatinate  it  was 
introduced,  without  opposition,  in  churches  and  schools. 
The  Elector  Frederic  III.  prefixed  to  the  first  edition 
the  preface,  iii  which  his  decision  was  contained,  and  by 
this  introduction,  crowned  the  benefits  which  he  con- 
ferred upon  the  Reformed  Church.  He  also  issued  spe- 
cial ecclesiastical  laws  in  relation  to  catechization,  which 
are  still  extant  in  the  church-order  of  the  Palatinate. 
He  appointed  the  catechization  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
Lord's  day,  and  the  Palatinate  theologians,  who  attended 
the  famous  national  Synod  at  JJordrecht,  stated  that  the 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  31 

catechetical  classes  in  the  provinces  of  the  Palatinate,  Avere 
arranged  in  three  classes,  namely,  boys  and  girls;  young 
men  and  young  women ;  old  people  and  adults ;  and  that 
the  first  were  taught  in  the  schools,  and  the  two  otlicr 
classes  were  instructed  in  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
Christianity.     All  attempts  to  exclude  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  or  to  bring  it  into  disrepute,  utterly  fiiiled. 
The  Elector  gave  it  his  strong  support  in  all  his  provinces. 
Frederic  III.  and  Prince  Christopher  of  Wurtcmberg, 
held  a  conference  in  the  small  town  of  Hilsbach,  near 
Singheim.    A  warm  friendship  had  for  many  years  sub- 
sisted between  the  two  princes,  founded  on  congeniality 
of  character  and  religious  convictions;    but  the  publica- 
tion of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  had  kindled  the  llanics 
of  discord  between  their  theologians.    The  princes  were 
persuaded  by  a  flattering  unction,  that  a  friendly  confer- 
ence between  the  disputants,  might  perhaps  lead  to  some 
compromise.   The  divines  of  the  Palatinate  endeavoured 
in  vain  to  convince  the  Elector  that  this  opinion  was  a 
delusion.     The  conference  was  held  in  the  Wurtcmberg 
Convent,  Maulbrun,  in  the   presence  of  both   princes, 
from  the  10th  to  the  15th  of  April,  156J:,  and  ended  as 
all  such  conferences  end.     The  eftect  of  it  was  seen  in 
bitter  polemical  writings,  which  aggravated  the  estrange- 
ment of  the  parties.      Count  ^^'olfgang,  the  Ilhenish 
Palatine,  Charles  Margrave  of  Daden,  and  Christopher, 
Prince  of  AVurtemberg,  declared  to  the  Elector  Frederic, 
in  an  elaborately  written  opinion,  their   apprehensions 
concerning  the  new  Catechism,  denounced  it  for  openly 
advocating  the  views  of  Zwingli  and  Calvin;    they  ap- 
pended an  index,  is  which  the  defects  of  the  Catechism 
were  sharply  censured.     The  Elector  sent  tl^iis  Essay  to 
the  great  Swiss  theologian,  Henry  Bullinger,  with  the 
request  that  he  would  answer  it.     Bullinger  did  so,  and 
defended  the -Palatinate  Catechism.  Frederic  set  out  for 


32  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

Amberg  in  company  with  Olevianns,  who  was  a  member 
of  the  Church  Council.  His  endeavours  to  effect  an 
organization  of  the  Church  of  the  Upper  Palatinate, 
similar  to  that  of  the  Rhenish  Palatinate,  were  fruitless; 
however,  he  succeeded  in  founding  a  school  at  Amberg, 
on  the  model  of  the  Heidelberg  pedagogium.  In  the 
year  1556,  the  famous  Diet  of  Augsburg  was  held.  The 
Bishops  along  the  Rhine,  and  the  Chapters  of  the  sup- 
pressed Convents  brought  their  complaints  before  the 
Emperor.  Many  Protestant  princes  joined  the  opposi- 
tion to  Frederic  III.  The  newly  organized  Reformed 
Church  was  in  great  danger  of  being  overwhelmed. 
The  whole  assembly  denounced  the  prince  of  the  Pala- 
tinate, and  called  him  to  account  for  the  Catechism  which 
he  had  introduced.  The  Emperor  and  the  States  insisted 
that  the  Catechism  should  be  rejected  and  forbidden. 
By  his  wise  and  resolute  conduct,  Frederic  III.  averted 
this  peril.  With  great  boldness  and  magnanimity  the 
Elector  spoke  before  this  assembly.  Said  he,  "As 
respects  my  Catechism,  I  know  all  about  it ;  it  is  so  for- 
tified in  the  margin  with  proof-texts  from  Sacred  Scrip- 
ture, that  it  has  maintained  its  ground,  although  some 
theologians  have  thought  they  could  overthrow  it,  and 
have  attempted  to  do  so ;  but  they  have  failed,  and  with 
God's  help,  I  trust  it  will  continue  to  stand."  In  the 
confession  of  his  faith,  the  Elector  thus  expresses  him- 
self: "  Especially,  have  certain  restless  spirits,  moved  by 
sheer  ambition  and  determined  malice,  undertaken  to 
condemn  our  Christian  Church  order  and  Catechism  as 
contrary  to  true  religion,  and  have  cavilled  at  the  same, 
and  endeavoured  to  bring  it  into  suspicion  among  simple 
folk,  although  they  themselves  cannot  furnish  a  better, 
as  may  readily  be  proved'.from  their  own  books,  which 
they  have  put  in  print — but  all  which  we,  with  the  help 
and  grace  of  the  Almighty,  have  endured,  and  overcome, 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  33 

because  we  have  not  allowed  ourselves  to  be  directed 
from  the  infallible  guidance  of  his  Divine  word,  nor  to 
be  deterred  by  fear  of  outward  violence,  but  have  ad- 
ministered our  office  and  calling  faithfully  and  with  con- 
stancy; and  have  lately  seen  wonderful  and  manifest 
advantages  accruing  from  the  same,  to  the  temporal  and 
eternal  profit,  blessing,  and  welfare  of  our  subjects,  who 
have  obediently  submitted  themselves  to  the  acknow- 
ledged truth;  and  have  also,  with  the  word  of  God, 
stopped  the  mouth  of  the  gainsayers,  aforesaid,  who 
have  opposed  our  Christian  Catechism  and  Church  order, 
whereby  also,  the  eyes  of  many  have  been  opened,  and 
they  have  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  pure 
doctrine  and  to  the  right  understanding  of  the  true 
Christian  religion." 

After  this  storm  ensued  a  brief  calm;  many  exiled 
Netherlanders  brought  their  industry  and  wealth  into 
the  Ehenish  Palatinate.  Fresh  commotions  arose  among 
the  theologians  of  Heidelberg,  respecting  the  Church 
discipline,  which  Calvin  had  introduced  into  the  little 
Genevan  Republic.  Some  requested  the  Elector  to  in- 
augurate this  system  in  the  Talatinate  also;  others,  fo): 
good  reasons,  opposed  it.  After  protracted  disputes,  the 
Elector  decided  in  fevour  of  introducing  Calvin's  system 
of  Church  discipline,  and  it  was  established  accordingly; 
but  in  the  inflamed  prejudices  of  the  partisans,  a  thorn 
was  rankling  which  soon  developed  dangerous  sores. 

The  doctrines  of  Arius,  who  denied  the  eternal  God- 
head of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  found  advocates 
in  the  Palatinate. .  The  subtle  speculations  of  certain 
learned  Italians,  who  had  come  to  Heidelberg,  would 
probably  have  made  but  Uttle  progress,  had  the  advo- 
cates of  the  Genevan  discipline  borne  their  triumph 
over  their  opponents  with  greater  moderation.  Into  the 
embittered  min^s  of  the  dell^ated  party,  these  erroneous 
3 


34  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

presentations  of  doctrine  were  insinuated  with  a  power 
of  temptation  proportioned  to  their  alienation  from  the 
system  to  which  the  dominant  party  adhered.  These 
speculations  found  their  declared  friends,  who  could  not 
long  remain  concealed.  John  Sylvan,  the  Superintend- 
ent of  Ladenburg,  Jacob  Suter,  Pastor  at  Feidenheim, 
and  Matthew  Vehe,  Deacon  at  Lantern,  were  brought 
under  arrest  to  Heidelberg,  July  15,  1570.  Casper 
Neuser,  the  preacher  in  the  Church  of  St.  Peter,  at 
Heidelberg,  who  was  intimately  connected  with  them, 
escaped  a  similar  fate  by  flight.  The  Elector  Frederic 
requested  an  opinion  on  their  case  from  the  Heidel- 
berg and  Swiss  divines.  The  Heidelberg  divines  and 
the  vSaxon  Judges  of  the  Court  declared  John  Sylvan 
guilty  of  a  capital  crime.  To  the  honour  of  the  head 
and  heart  of  the  civil  judges  of  Heidelberg,  let  it  be 
said,  that  they  dissented  from  this  opinion ;  but  the  Elec- 
tor sided  with  the  severer  judgment,  and  the  unhappy 
Sylvan,  after  a  long  imprisonment,  was  beheaded  in  the 
market  square,  at  Heidelberg,  December  13, 1572.  The 
tragedy  was  not  yet  over;  many  learned  men,  who  had 
deserved  well  of  their  country,  were  exposed  to  the 
arrows  of  suspicion,  and  in  order  to  avoid  them,  volun- 
tarily resigned  their  stations.  Some  years  before  the 
death  of  the  Prince,  the  desired  rest  was  granted.  The 
evening  of  his  honoured  life  he  devoted  to  science  and 
the  dissemination  of  Christian  knowledge.  Ever  since 
the  period  of  the  Peasant  war  and  the  disturbances  of 
Mimzer,  partisans  of  this  sect  had  lived  in  the  Palati- 
nate, and  from  the  first  they  hadljeen  dangerous  fanatics; 
but  the  disastrous  and  bloody  issue  of  their  insurrection 
had  already  contributed  greatly  to  the  purification  of 
their  moral  and  political  principles.  They  now  lived  in 
quiet,  and  prosecuted  with  skill  and  profit,  the  peaceful 
arts  of  agriculture.     Frederid  sought  to  win  them  over 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECIIlSJf.  35 

entirely;  kindly  relieved  them  of  the  restrictions  \vliich 
had  been  imposed  on  them,  provided  liberally  for  their 
sustenance  during  their  sojourn  at  Frankenthal,  and 
when  he  found  that  they  were  not  to  be  won,  gener- 
ously gave  these  Anabaptists  a  home  in  his  provinces. 

The  two  distinguished  Heidelberg  divines,  Tremellius 
and  Francis  Junius,  published  in  the  year  1574,  the 
translation  in  Latin  of  the  Bible,  prepared  by  them  from 
the  original  languages.  The  Elector  and  their  learned 
cotemporaries  held  them  in  high  appreciation  for  this 
noble  work.  Frederic  made  another  attempt  to  gain 
the  approbation  of  the  Upper  Palatinate  for  his  Confes- 
sion; but  the  excitement  which  ensued  in  consequence, 
at  the  Residence  in  Amberg,  induced  him  to  abandon 
the  effort,  and  like  its  predecessor,  this  endeavour  was 
fruitless.  Another  noble  deed  cheered  the  evening  of 
his  eventful  life.  He  founded  a  school  for  the  nobility 
at  Setz.  His  design  was  to  afford  the  young  Protestant 
nobility  a  compensation  in  some  degree  for  the  loss  of  so 
many  prebends  at  the  Cathedral  and  Collegiate  churches. 
Whilst  this  institution  was  gradually  giving  promise  of 
good  fruit,  Frederic  finished  his  course,  October  26, 1576. 
Peace  to  thy  ashes,  noble,  immortal  Prince ! 

Whilst  the  Elector  Frederic  defended  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  against  the  persecution  of  the  Princes,  ^^'olf■ 
gang,  Count  Palatine  of  tlie  Hhine,  Christopher,  Prince 
of  Wurtemberg,  and  Charles  Margrave  of  Baden,  and 
personally,  with  equal  courage  and  wisdom,  vindicated  it 
at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  Ursinus  contended  against 
other  learned  men,,  who  attacked  the  established  Cate- 
chism of  the  country.  In  the  preface  to  tlie  vindication 
acfainst  the  unfounded  accusations  and  misfepresenta- 
tions,  with  which  the  Catechism  of  Christian  doctrine, 
published  at  Heidelberg  in  1563,  was  unjustly  laden, 
he  expresses  liimself  thus :    "  Whereas  the  serene  and 


36  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE    OF 

noble  Elector,  the  Palatine  Frederic,  our  most  gracious 
sovereign,  not  only  in  respect  of  the  office  devolved  by 
God  upon  his  Highness,  but  also,  as  is  well  known  to 
many  truth-loving  people,  from  a  Christian  and  most 
laudable  disposition  and  desire  to  promote  the  honour 
of  Christ  and  the  edification  of  his  Church,  regarded  this 
as  the  highest  and  most  excellent  object  of  his  govern- 
ment and  care,  that  a  due  knowledge  and  fear  of  God 
and  Christian  walk  should  be  more  and  more  planted 
and  diffused  among  his  subjects,  and  be  transmitted  to 
their  posterity ;  and  inasmuch  as  His  Highness,  together 
with  all  whose  understanding  is  exercised  in  such  sub- 
jects, saw  and  well  considered,  that  such  laudable  edifi- 
cation of  the  Church  could  not  be  promoted  with  good 
and  abiding  results,  vi^ithout  this  prior  foundation,  that 
the  youth  be  diligently  and  intelligently  instructed  in 
the  true  knowledge  and  fear  of  God;  therefore,  His 
Highness  has  enjoined  upon  and  earnestly  commanded 
divers  God-fearing  and  experienced  men,  to  prepare  and 
publish  a  consistent  and  certain  form  of  a  Christian 
Catechism  derived  from  the  sacred  Scriptures,  which 
shall  be  adapted  to  the  instruction  of  the  youth  and 
uneducated  people  of  this  land,  in  the  most  important 
articles  of  our  true  Christian  faith.  And  now,  when 
these  persons,  with  becoming  obedience  and  all  possible 
diligence,  have  acquiesced  in  this  command,  and  might 
certainly  indulge  the  hope,  that  no  one  would  be  found 
who  would  manifest  displeasure  at  this  work  undertaken 
for  the  true  and  fruitful  edification  of  the  Christian 
Church — it  has  happened  to  them,  even  as  is  wont,  to 
those  who  exert  themselves  most  earnestly  and  faithfully 
for  the  common  welfare — ^yea  even  as  it  befel  Christ 
himself.  Foe,  although  mar^y  God-loving  and  sensible 
people  have  duly  estimated  and  appreciated  the  zeal  and 
labour  expended  for  the  proi^otion  of  such  Christian 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  37 

doctrine;    yet  have  there  been  found  many,  who  have 
rejected  the  greater  part  of  the  doctrine,  which  they 
have  neither  heard  nor  read,  perhaps  not  so  much  out 
of  hatred   and  ill   will  against  us,  as  from    prejudice 
formed  through  the   absurd  representations  of  others, 
partly  because  they  are  so  nfuch  devoted  to  the  opinions 
of  men,  that  they  reject  without   understanding  that 
which  they  have  read,  so  soon  as  it  does  not  agree  with 
their  preconceived  stupidity;    or  also,  notwithstanding 
they  do  not  understand  it,  yet  because  it  is  not  pleasing 
or  acceptable  to  themselves  and  others,  contrary  to  their 
own  conscience,  condemn  its  doctrine  as  filse.      Espcci- 
allv  have  certain  men  acted  in  an  evil  and  unchristian 
manner,  who  (to  say  nothing  of  their  calumnies  against 
innocent  persons,)  have  ventured  to  slander  and  suppress 
right  doctrine,  which  is  conformable  to  God's  word,  with 
false  imputations  and  misrepresentations.     And  some  of 
these,  either  because  they  dare  not  come  to  the  light,  or 
because  it  is  not  convenient  for  them  to  do  so,  have  cir- 
culated divers  flying  rumours  among  the  people,  and  with 
impudent,  malicious  lips,  have  scattered,  hither  and  yon, 
false  reports,  and  issued  tracts  smeared  with  untruths  and 
blasphemies.      These,  inasmuch  as  they  sliun  the  light 
and  by  such  conviction   of  conscience  publicly  infiict 
more  disgrace  upon  themselves,  than  we  could  possibly 
inflict  by  exposing  them,  are  in  our  judgment,  to  be 
refuted  in  no  other  way,  than  by  constant  confession  of 
the   truth  and  diligent  watch  against  those   things  of 
which  they  falsely  accuse  us.     Some,  but  of  these  there 
are  few,  have  ventured,  out  of  heedless  presumption  and 
malice,  openly  to  attack  the  truth.  And,  first  of  all,  one 
man  in  the  neighbourhood,  when  the  Catechism  was  first 
published,  issued  a  tract  warning  all  people  against  it, 
who,  as  he  is  himself  our  neighbour,  did   mucli  more 
warn  against  Jiis  own  poison,  those  wliom  he  sought  to 


38  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OP 

attach  to  himself  and  prejudice  against  us;  and  inas- 
much as  all  Christian  and  sensible  people  were  much 
more  disgusted  not  only  by  his  flippant  and  manifold 
falsehoods,  sarcasms,  and  calumnies,  but  also  by  his  un- 
godly and  monstrous  perversions  of  Christian  doctrine, 
than  prepossessed  against  the  truth,  which  he  defamed 
and  scorned  like  a  buffoon  and  a  knave — he  may  justly 
be  regarded  as  unworthy  of  any  farther  answer.  This 
man  was  Laurentius  Albertius,  who  composed  a  treatise, 
warning  against  the  poison  contained  in  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  and  addressed  it  to  the  cities  of  Speier, 
Worms,  and  other  neighbouring  towns.  He  was  fol- 
lowed by  another,  Franciscus  Balduinus,  who,  not  so 
much  from  want  of  understanding,  as  from  hatred  of 
the  cross  of  Christ,  had  given  himself  up  to  the  worship 
of  the  Roman  Antichrist,  and  sought  to  defame  the 
truth  (which  he  had  formerly,  in  many  places,  openly 
proclaimed  and  taught,)  with  all  sorts  of  calumnies  and 
abuse  which  he  had  scraped  together;  and  therefore, 
when  one  of  tlie  aforementioned  tracts,  written  by  a 
venomous,  and,  in  his  blindness,  conceited  enemy  of  the 
truth  and  defender  of  notorious  error,  and  scattered  here 
and  there  in  German  provinces,  had  come  into  his 
hands,  he  smeared  and  scribbled  an  appendix  to  it,  add- 
ing his  glosses  not  unlike  the  text,  which  was  composed 
in  part  of  articles  which  were  wickedly  perverted  and 
maliciously  condemned,  abusing  us,  and  all  Churches 
which  maintain  the  true  doctrine,  with  divers  false- 
hoods and  opprobrious  heretical  epithets,  according  to  his 
wont,  and  then  published  his  sci'eed,  albeit  without  his 
name. 

"Finally,  a  certain  Matthaeus  Flacius  Illyricus,  who, 
for  some  years  back,  to  the  scandal  of  honest  and  Chris- 
tian people,  aiid  the  occasion  of  much  unnatural  discord, 
has  disquieted  many  consciences  and  churches  in  Ger- 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM:.  39 

many;  in  order  that  he  might  satiate  his  envy  and 
hatred,  and  be  regarded  by  his  party  as  the  only  light 
of  the  Christian  churches,  upon  whom  error  has  devolved 
the  maintenance  and  defence  of  the  truth  ajjainst  all 
heresies,  and  in  order  that  no  one  may  remain  unassailcd 
by  him  who  will  not  labour  for  his  advantage,  has 
run  at  us  also,  and  lias  thrust  forth  a  treatise,  which  he 
calls  a  refutation  of  the  Catechism,  published  in  this 
place." 

So  much  for  Ursinus's  notice  of  the  first  adversaries 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  given  in  the  preface  to 
the  vindication.  This  polemical  essay  is  printed  sepa- 
rately; and  is  also  appended  to  some  German  and  Latin 
editions  of  the  Catechism.  It  is  found  also  in  the  com- 
plete published  works  of  Ursinus,  prefixed  at  the  begin- 
ning; and  in  the  edition  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
at  Neustadt  on  the  Hardt,  1595,  it  stands  page  3*27. 
The  full  title  is  as  follows:  "Vindication  against  the 
unfounded  allegations  and  perversions  with  which  the 
Catechism  of  Christian  doctrine  is  burdened;  written 
by  the  Theologians  of  the  University  of  Heidelberg, 
A.  D.  1569."  In  the  preface,  Ursinus  explains  the  rea- 
sons why,  among  many  opponents,  he  regarded  Flacius 
as  worthy  of  answer.  "  Although  three  of  them  have 
come  forward  with  public  attacks  upon  the  Catechism, 
we  have  proposed  at  this  time  especially  to  answer  the 
accusation  and  perversion  of  the  third  and  last,  who  has 
set  himself  forth  as  a  rcfutcr  of  the  Catechism;  and  tliis, 
not  only  because  this  man  is,  in  his  own  opinion  and  in 
that  of  his  crew,  specially  regarded  as  the  only  steadfiist 
and  invincible  chiimpion  of  the  truth,  whose  dreams 
and  sophistries  the  whole  world  ought  to  hear  and  accept 
as  the  word  of  God;  but  also,  because  he  kteppcd  out 
last  of  all,  and  threw  into  a  heap  the  best  armour  of  all 
the  others,  that  he  might,  as  he  thought,  do  good  scr- 


40  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

vice  against  us.  Therefore,  although  lie  has  given  his 
name,  and  supposes  that  he  will  earn  special  honour  for 
the  victory  which,  in  advance,  he  assigns  to  himself,  we 
shall  not  name  him,  partly,  because  honest  people  must 
henceforth  be  ashamed  to  have  anything  to  do  with  him 
personally,  but  above  all,  because  we  wish  herewith  to 
answer  not  only  him,  but  other  perverters  and  defamers 
of  the  same  ilk." 

Ursinus  prepared  another  treatise  in  reply  to  the 
attacks  of  John  Brentius  and  Jacob  Andreas.  These 
two  had  written  a  criticism  upon  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, in  which  they  censured  eighteen  of  the  questions, 
and  appended  six  special  questions  to  the  Elector,  in 
relation  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Ursinus  wrote  in  reply: 
"An  answer  to  the  criticism  of  certain  theologians 
on  the  proof-texts  from  sacred  Scripture,  adduced  in  the 
margin  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  together  with  the 
answer  and  counter-question  to  six  questions  pertain- 
ing to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Written  by  Zachariah  Ursi- 
nus. Neustadt,  1564,  1584."  TMs  vindication  is  also 
found  in  the  German  edition  of  the  Catechism  published 
at  Neustadt,  and  in  another  Latin  edition  of  1585,  and 
in  the  theological  works  of  Ursinus.  Thieleman  Hesshus, 
notorious  in  the  Palatinate  history,  the  bitterest  enemy 
of  the  Zwinglians  and  Calvinists,  also  stepped  forth 
upon  the  arena,  and  wrote  "a  faithful  warning  against 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  Erfurt,  1588."  Not  a  soul 
answered  him,. and  he  endured  the  mortification  of  not 
being  noticed.  At  the  command  of  the  Prince,  the 
Saxon  theologians  were  required  to  deliver  their  opinion 
concerning  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  but  it  was  rather 
a  forced  affair.  These  were,  exclusively  opponents  oiit 
of  the  Lutheran  Church.  ,  The  number  of  its  enemies 
in  the  llomish  Church  was  much  greater.  We  shall 
become  acquainted  with  some  of  them  in  the  sequel. 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  41 

During  the  reign  of  Frederic,  no  one  concerned  himself 
about  them,  and,  in  fact,  their  attacks  were  made  so 
clumsily,  and  were  so  pitiful,  that  they  needed  no  refu- 
tation; they  fell  of  themselves,  powerless  to  the  ground. 
The  author  of  the  Catechism,  Zachariah  Ursinus,  ren- 
dered another  good  service  in  connection  with  its  publi- 
cation. Immediately  after  it  was  issued,  Ursinus  began 
to  lecture  upon  it  in  the  College,  and  explained  it  from 
beginning  to  end,  once  every  year, — a  work  which  he 
continued  up  to  the  year  1577.  His  pupils,  in  their 
eagerness  to  improve,  gathered  up  a  large  portion  of 
these  lectures  with  ready  pens,  and  secured  the  publica- 
tion of  these  notes  under  Ursinus's  name.  This  was 
first  done  at  Neustadt,  1584,  and  afterwards  at  Geneva 
and  Leyden.  From  the  manifold  discrepancies  of  such 
copies,  it  was  soon  evident  how  little  part  Ursinus  had 
in  the  doctrinal  statements  and  expressions  contained 
in  them,  and  therefore  Parous,  who  had  himself  heard 
Ursinus's  lectures  on  the  Catechism,  was  requested  to 
examine  them,  remodel,  and  so  arrange  them,  that  they 
might  present  a  greater  resemblance  to  the  style  and 
matter  of  the  original  lectures.  Parens  applied  himself 
to  this  work,  and  gave  to  the  Catechetical  exposition  of 
Ursinus  a  new  form,  in  which  it  appeared  for  the  first 
time  at  Heidelberg,  in  1591,  in  four  parts,  with  as  many 
prefaces  by  Parens;  it  was  published  again  in  the  same 
place,  in  the  years  1598  and  1607,  and  afterwards  in 
repeated  editions,  in  various  places,  incorporated  with 
the  works  of  Ursinus.  Concerning  other  editions  of 
the  Catechetical  works  of  Ursinus,  Martin  Lipenius  and 
Jerome  Van  Alphear  give  authentic  accounts,  both  in 
relation  to  those  which  under  various  titles  preceded, 
as  well  as  those  which  followed  the  improved  edition  of 
Parens.  The  title  of  the  genuine  editions  prepared  by 
Parens,  is:  "Zachariah  Ursinus'  Body  of  Christian  doc- 


42  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

trine  of  the  Church  Reformed  from  Popery,  containing 
the  Catechetical  Expositions,  variously  presented  in 
divers  editions,  but  now  finally,  and  recently,  so  revised 
and  arranged  from  beginning  to  end,  that  it  has  been 
regarded  as  a  new  work,  by  David  Parens,  with  a  double 
Index.  Appended  are  Catechetical  miscellanies  of  the 
first  issues,  revised  and  improved.     Bremen,  1623." 

Ursinus,  from  whose  pen  the  Heidelberg  Catechism 
flowed,  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  write  the  best 
commentary  upon  it;  and  so  it  is.  The  numerous  edi- 
tions of  this  book  present  a  silent,  and  the  loud  eulo- 
gies of  learned  men,  an  eloquent  testimony  respecting 
it.  Henry  Alting  justly  adds,  after  boasting  of  the 
number  of  expositions  and  explanations  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism:  "Among  all  these  expositions,  those 
of  Ursinus  are  the  first  and  most  excellent."  D'Outrein 
and  other  divines  express  a  similar  opinion,  and  count- 
less pastors  of  churches  were  trained  for  their  work  by 
the  diligent  use  of  them.  Parens,  however,  shares  the 
honour  of  the  exposition  of  Ursinus,  inasmuch  as  he 
furnished  them  to  his  companions  in  the  faith.  Ancil- 
lon,  in  his  miscellaneous  critical  writings,  is  right  when 
he  says:  "David  Parens  has  prepared  a  capital  Com- 
mentary upon  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  through  Zacha- 
riah  Ursinus." 

The  value  and  use  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  were 
almost  destroyed  in  their  first  developement,  when  after 
the  death  of  Prince  Frederic  in  the  year  1576,  his  son, 
Count  Palatine  Louis,  who  was  addicted  to  the  Lutheran 
doctrine,  entered  upon  the  government  of  the  Palati- 
nate, and  ordered  Luther's  Catechism  to  be  introduced 
in  his  dominions,  instead  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
His  brother.  Prince  John  Casimir,  however,  retained 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism  in  the  provinces  entrusted  to 
his  rule.     Hence,  copies  of  t^e  same  are  found,  which 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  43 

were  printed  about  this  time,  upon  whose  title-page  we 
read:  "The  Catechism,  as  used  in  Churches  and  Schools, 
formerly  of  the  electoral^  now  of  the  prina'paliti/  of  the 
Palatinate."  Frederic  III.  had  prepared  a  Will,  in 
which  he  had  manifested  the  greatest  solicitude  for  the 
maintenance  of  his  institutions.  On  his  dying  bed  he 
requested  his  son,  who  was  to  follow  him  in  the  govern- 
ment, to  grant  him  a  personal  interview,  in  which  he 
proposed  most  urgently  to  enjoin  upon  him  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  Church  order,  and  strict  obedience  to  this 
last  will  and  testament.  Louis  VI.  declined  to  com[)ly 
with  the  request  of  his  dying  father  for  an  interview, 
and  the  regulations,  contained  in  his  will,  respecting 
Church  order,  were  treated  with  contempt.  Sixteen 
days  after  his  father's  death,  he  comes  to  Heidelberg  and 
orders  the  funeral  sermon  of  the  deceased  Elector  to  be 
held  by  his  Court  preacher,  Paul  Schcchzius,  whom  he 
brings  with  him  for  that  purpose.  Daniel  Tossan,  his 
father's  Court  preacher,  is  dismissed,  and  Caspar  Olevia- 
nus,  the  most  eminent  teacher  of  divinity  in  the  Uni- 
versity, is  visited  with  house-arrest.  Booksellers  are 
forbidden  to  sell  any  books  which  tended  to  the  support 
of  the  Reformed  Confession.  Thence,  the  Elector 
returns  to  Amberg,  dismisses  the  Reformed  preachers 
from  their  stations,  and  reinstates  on  their  former  foot- 
ing, the  old  usages,  in  the  churches  which  had  been 
assigned  to  them,  under  the  former  government.  The 
preachers  of  Heidelberg,  the  mayor,  and  the  magistracy, 
send  a  petition  to  the  Elector  at  Amberg,  in  which  they 
ask  freedom  for  the.  exercise  of  tlieir  worship,  and  ofter 
to  transfer  the  ChuJch  of  the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  use  of 
the  advocates  of  his  Confession.  The  Elector's  brother, 
Prince  Casimir,  endorses  this  petition;  but  the  Elector 
returns  the  petition  to  tlie  Councils,  witli  a  severe 
rebuke,  and  answers  his  brother,  that  he  will  not,  for 


44  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

sake  of  his  own  conscience,  accept,  and  much  less  can 
he  grant  the  request  of  the  petitioners. 

In  the  following  year,  1577,  Louis  comes  with  his  court 
to  Heidelberg,  dismisses  the  Church  Council  and  all  the 
preachers  from  their  stations,  closes  the  only  remaining 
church,  (that  of  the  Barefoot  order,)  the  chapel  of  the 
Theological  Faculty,  which  had  been  assigned  as  a  place 
of  public  worship  to  the  refugees  from  Frankfort,  occu- 
pies all  the  stations  with  Lutherans,  commands  a  new 
Church  order  to  be  prepared,  and  all  who  refuse  to  adopt 
it,  are  informed  that  their  services  are  no  longer  required. 
Many  families  leave  the  city,  and  take  refuge  in  the 
country  of  Prince  Casimir.  The  new  ministers  who 
have  come  to  Heidelberg,  and  to  the  country  towns, 
constitute  a  strict  and  a  more  moderate  party,  and  are 
designated  as  Ubiquitarians  and  Non-Ubiquitarians. 
The  Elector  Louis  VI.  seems  to  be  more  favourable  to 
the  latter  party,  to  which  both  his  court  preachers,  Paul 
and  John  Schechzius  are  attached,  and  makes  it  his 
business  to  let  these  opinions  be  known  to  the  people. 
In  the  year  1580,  the  Elector  Louis  VI.  subscribes  the 
Book  of  Concord,  and  thereby  completes  the  triumph 
of  the  Lutherans  over  the  Heformed.  All  remaining 
public  teachers  in  the  University,  and  professors  in  the 
colleges,  who,  in  matters  of  doctrine,  incline  to  the 
views  of  Zwingli,  or  even  only  of  Melanchthon,  must 
subscribe  the  Form  of  Concord,  and  whoever  declines  to 
do  this,  is  declared  unfit  for  the  office  of  a  public  teacher. 
A  general  church  visitation  is  the  final  measure  in  this 
revolution  of  ecclesiastical  order  under  the  government 
of  Louis.  According  to  the  report  of  this  visitation,  in 
the  city  of  Heidelberg,  much  had  already  been  gained, 
and  the  party  of  its  opponents,  now  utterly  weakened, 
would  no  longer  have  been  able  to  offer  any  opposition 
to  the  measures  proposed  for  i,the  effecting  of  unity  of 


THE    HEIDELBERG    CATECHlS>f.  45 

faith;  but  before  these  measures  can  be  applied,  the 
Elector  Louis  VI.  dies,  in  the  strength  of  his  manhood, 
October  12,  1583. 

Soon  after  the  death  of  Louis,  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism and  the  whole  Swiss  system  of  doctrine  and 
church  order  were  restored.  Most  opportunely,  tidings 
of  this  event  recalled  Casimir  from  a  theatre  which  was 
just  beginning  to  be  dangerous  for  him.  From  the 
camp  at  Deuz,  opposite  the  city  of  Cologne,  the  Prince 
comes  to  Heidelberg  three  days  after  his  brother's 
death,  and  assumes  the  guardianship  of  the  young 
Prince  Elector,  and  the  government  of  the  Palatinate. 
True,  Louis  VI.  had  left  a  last  will  and  testament,  as 
eight  years  ago  his  father  had  done  before  him;  but 
neither  was  this  respected.  Contrary  to  the  express 
arrangement  of  Louis  VI.,  teachers  of  the  Reformed 
faith  are  appointed  for  the  education  of  the  young 
prince.  The  leaders  in  Church  and  State,  who  have 
been  expelled  eight  years  ago,  return.  The  adminis- 
trator orders  a  consultation  to  be  held  with  the  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  Church  commissioners  and  preachers 
at  Heidelberg,  concerning  the  restoration  of  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  those  of  the  Reformed  persuasion. 
The  resolute  refusal  of  these  men  to  accede  to  the 
wishes  of  the  administrator  does  them  more  harm  than 
good.  Notwithstanding  their  objections,  the  Church  is 
given  over  to  the  Reformed.  The  number  of  the  Re- 
formed,  who  are  now  in  favour  with  the  court,  increases 
daily,  and  soon  the  ascendency  of  their  opponents  be- 
comes doubtful.  Both  Louis's  court  preachers  are  dis- 
missed from  their  stations;  the  General  Superintendent, 
the  Church  counsellors,  and  others  of  the^  so-called. 
Evangelical  party,  are  obliged  to  leave.  The  overthrow 
of  the  party  opposed  to  the  court  seems  inevitable.  The 
fury  of  party  s^ii;it  is  rampant,  and  all  attempts  of  the 


46  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

administrator  to  restrain  it,  tend  rather  to  fan  the  flames 
of  discord  than  to  quench  them.  The  court  resolves 
once  more  to  exhibit  the  rare  spectacle  of  a  public  dis- 
cussion. It  is  instituted  on  the  4th  and  continues  until 
the  10th  of  April,  1584;  but  its  issue  is  without  the 
desired  result;  there  is  great  clatter  and  outcry,  and 
both  parties  claim  the  victory.  All  the  churches  come 
into  the  possession  of  the  Reformed;  all  vacant  posi- 
tions, both  in  the  University  and  in  the  College  of  the 
Church  Council,  are  occupied,  for  the  most  part,  by  the 
men  who  have,  eight  years  before,  been  dispossessed. 
Throughout  the  whole  country  the  Church  order  of 
Federick  III.  was  restored.  The  Church  Council  de- 
mands from  the  preachers  and  schoolmasters,  who  have 
subscribed  the  formula  of  the  Concord,  a  declaration,  that 
they  will  henceforth  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  sym- 
bol of  faith,  except  in  so  far  as  it  agrees  with  the  Divine 
Word,  the  Augsburg  Confession,  and  the  Apology  for  the 
same,  and  with  other  acknowledged  symbolical  books. 
The  majority  decline  to  make  this  declaration,  and  are 
dismissed  from  their  positions.  The  Administrator  Casi- 
mir  is  succeeded  in  the  government  of  the  country  by 
his  nephew.  Prince  Frederic  the  Fourth,  who  has  been 
educated  by  him,  and  who  adheres  to  the  principles  of 
his  predecessor.  The  celebrated  David  Parens,  pro- 
fessor at  Heidelberg,  labours  under,  his  auspices;  the 
Church  enjoys  rest,  and  the  fame  of  the  University 
reaches  a  height  which  it  has  hitherto  not  attained. 
He  dies  in  the  flower  of  his  life,  Sept.  9,  1610.  Under 
the  guardianship  of  Prince  John  of  Deuxponts,  his  son 
Frederic  V.  succeeds  him  in  the  government,  and  is  faith- 
ful to  his  father's  example,^ and  maintains  the  Church 
in  all  its  interest^,  in  the  .same  condition  in  which  his 
father  had  left  it.  He  raises  the  estimation  in  which 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism   is   held;    sends  Palatinate 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  47 

divines  to  the  General  Synod,  at  Dordrcclit,  10)18,  by 
which  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  is  exalted  to  the 
rank  of  a  symbolical  book. 

Dark  and  heavy  storm  clouds  gathered  over  the 
Church,  and  especially  over  the  Palatinate,  and  broke 
in  fearful  tempests  of  fury  and  cruelty  upon  them.  The 
dissatisfaction  of  several  Catholic  Courts  in  Germany, 
whom  the  treaty  of  Passau,  and  the  religious  peace 
which  followed  it,  had  for  a  time  kept  at  bay,  but  had 
not  yet  subdued,  exhibited  itself  in  various  occurrences, 
and  threatened  serious  troubles  to  the  German  empire. 
The  Protestant  princes  banded  themselves  under  the 
name  of  the  Union,  against  all  assaults  of  the  Papacy, 
and  the  Catholic  princes,  in  opposition  to  it,  formed 
themselves  into  "The  League."  A  war  was  inevitable, 
and  would  have  broken  out,  even  had  there  been  no  dis- 
turbances in  Bohemia.  The  position  of  President  of 
the  Evangelical "  Union,"  which  Frederic  IX.  had  already 
occupied,  was  retained  by  his  son,  Frederic  Y.,  and 
involved  him  deeply  in  all  the  religious  strifes  of  the 
German  empire.  Unfortunately  for  him,  the  most 
powerful  of  all  the  then  Protestant  Courts  arrayed  itself 
against  the  evangelical  Union,  whilst  the  powers  of  the 
League  were  consolidated  in  a  compact  alliance.  At 
last,  the  fire  which  had  long  smouldered  under  the  ashes, 
burst  forth  in  flames.  The  explosion  began  in  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  and  Silesia,  and  all  Europe  was  convulsed. 
The  royal  Brief  accorded  by  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II., 
in  1609,  to  the  Hussites  and  Protestants  in  Bohemia, 
Moravia,  and  Silesia,  by  which  religious  freedom  was 
secured  to  them;  the  liberties  gained  with  so  much 
diflficulty,  from  the  various  regents  of  the  .provinces, 
extorted  rather  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  than  freely 
conceded  to  them,  were  assailed  and  violently  with- 
drawn.    Thus,-  the   confidence,   which   is   so  essential 


48  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

between  rulers  and  people,  was  destroyed.  In  the  midst 
of  this  contest  between  the  Court  and  a  jealous  people, 
the  Emperor  Mathias  died  in  1619.  The  states  of 
Bohemia^  Moravia,  and  Silesia,  declared  themselves 
independent  of  the  government  of  his  successor,  Ferdi- 
nand II.,  and  chose  the  Palatine  Elector,  Frederic  V., 
as  their  King,  August  16,  1619.  Frederic  hesitated  to 
accept  the  proffered  crown.  His  mother,  Louisa  Juliana, 
the  wisest  princess  of  her  age,  exerted  all  her  influence 
to  dissuade  Frederic  from  accepting  the  crown:  "Envy 
and  hatred,"  said  she,  "  are  the  real  names  of  the  friend- 
ship on  which  you  rely;  a  religious  War  will  grow  out 
of  this  political  contest."  The  Elector's  wife,  a  daughter 
of  James  I.  of  England,  Prince  Christian  of  Anhalt, 
Prince  Maurice  of  Orange,  and  the  Prince  of  Bouillon, 
urged  him  to  accept  the  crown,  and  Frederic  consented. 
He  travelled  from  Heidelberg  to  Bohemia,  and  the 
peace  and  prosperity  of  his  subjects  in  the  Palatinate 
went  with  him;  he  was  crowned,  Qctober  25,  1619,  with 
great  pomp ;  he  issued  a  very  mild  declaration  in  favour 
of  the  Catholic  portion  of  his  subjects ;  the  pictures  were 
removed  only  from  the  Cathedral  at  Prague.  He  entered 
upon  a  campaign  against  the  Emperor,  and  was  already 
at  the  gates  of  Vienna,  but  the  Emperor,  Ferdinand  II., 
concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Pope,  the  King  of  Spain, 
and  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  against  the  King  of  Bohemia; 
and  the  French  Court  arranged  a  compact  at  Ulm, 
between  the  Evangelical  Union  and  the  Catholic  League. 
Ferdinand  II, ,  and  Prince  Maximilian,  of  Bavaria, 
formed  a  secret  alliance  against.Frederic.  The  Spanish 
Field-Marshal,  Spinola,  made  an  incursion  with  an  arpiy 
from  the  Netherlands,  and  gained  possession  of  the 
greater  part  of  ^he  Lowet  Palatinate,  on  the  left  bank 
of  the  Rhine.  At  Krcuznach,  a  Spanish  regency  was 
established,  and  the  established  Church  institutions  were 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISiT.  49 

overthrown.  Prince  Maximilian  and  the  Emperor's 
general,  Bourquoi,  invaded  Bohemia,  and  Frederic,  the 
King  of  Bohemia,  was  beaten  at  AVeissenberg  near 
Prague,  and  fled  for  his  life.  He  and  all  his  adherents 
were  declared  by  the  Emperor  to  be  under  the  ban  of 
the  empire.  Prince  Maximilian  gained  possession  of 
the  Upper  Palatinate.  The  imperial  general,  Tilly,  sub- 
jugated all  the  cities  of  the  Palatinate  on  the  right  bank 
of  the  llhine,  as  far  as  Heidelberg  and  Manheim.  A 
ray  of  hope  dawns  upon  the  unhappy  Kinsr.  A  few 
German  princes,  faithful  adherents  of  Frederic  V.,  raise 
a  considerable  body  of  troops  for  his  assistance.  Fre- 
deric himself  returns  to  the  Rhenish  Palatinate;  but 
after  various  adverse  occurrences,  the  terrified  King 
allows  himself  to  be  induced  by  the  fallacious  promises 
of  his  father-in-law,  James  L,  to  renounce  the  fortune 
« of  war.  The  imperial  general,  Tilly,  seizes  Heidelberg, 
and  assigns  the  electoral  palace  as  a  residence  to  the 
Jesuits  who  had  accompanied  him.  On  the  second  day 
after  this  event,  the  first  mass  is  held  in  the  principal 
church  in  the  city;  the  other  churches  are  given  over 
to  secular  priests  and  monks.  The  costly  library  is  pre- 
sented by  Prince  Maximilian  to  the  reigning  Pontifl", 
Paul.  All  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  expressly  ordered 
by  Marshal  Tilly  to  leave  the  city.  Whole  herds  of 
foreign  Monks  come  into  the  llhenish  Palatinate,  and 
contend  for  the  possession  of  the  Convent  property. 
The  governments  of  Spain  and  Bavaria  issue  a  decree, 
that  every  inhabitant  must  either  go  to  Mass,  or  leave 
the  country.  The .  University  is  reorganized  by  the 
fathers  of  the  Sociel'y  of  Jesus;  and  the  whole  external 
ecclesiastical  condition  of  the  country  is  no\v  Romish. 
Hope  has  died  out,  when,  all  at  once,  the  scene  shifts. 
The  Northern  Hero,  Gustavus  Adolphus,  lands  with  a 
small  army  in*  Pomerania,  gains  a  decisive  victory  at 
4 


50  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Leipzic  in  1631,  and  in  the  same  year  recovers  a  large 
portion  of  the  Rhenish  Palatinate,  and  changes  the  reli- 
gious condition  of  the  country.  The  noble  Gustavus 
dies  on  the  field  of  Lutzen,  1632,  a  glorious  death  for 
the  liberty  and  prosperity  of  Germany,  and  the  cup  of 
the  unhappy  Frederic's  misery  is  full.  When  on  the 
point  of  taking  possession  of  his  hereditary  realm,  he  dies  . 
at  Mayence,  November  10,  1632.  Under  the  guardian- 
ship and  administration  of  the  Count  Palatine,  Philip, 
of  Simmern,  Prince  Charles  Louis  entered  upon  the 
government.  The  churches  and  church  property  were 
assigned  to  their  former  owners.  An  agreement  was 
entered  into  between  the  Administrator  and  the  Swedish 
C'hancellor,  Oxenstiern,  respecting  matters  of  religion 
and  church  order  in  the  Palatinate,  by  which  not  only 
the  free  exercise  of  religious  worship  was  secured  to  the 
evangelical  Lutherans  throughout  the  Palatinate,  but  it  * 
was  stipulated  also,  that  whenever,  in  any  city,  town,  or 
village,  they  constituted  the  majority,  the  churches, 
parsonages,  and  parsonage  revenues,  should  be  conceded 
to  them.  The  superintendencies  and  pastorates  were 
again  filled,  and  preaching,  and  catechization  according 
to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  were  conducted  as  formerly. 
Multitudes  of  refugees  returned  to  their  liberated  father- 
land; a  rich  contribution  from  Scotland  assisted  them 
to  reorganize  their  churches  and  schools,  and  a  joyful 
harvest  promised  to  succeed  the  days  of  weeping;  but  the 
disastrous  defeat  of  the  Swedes  at  Nordlingen,  August 
26,  1634,  blasted  all  these  fair  prospects.  Heidelberg 
was  again  overrun  with  imperial  and  Bavarian  troops. 
The  whole  land  became  a  vast  scene  of  rapine  and  plun- 
der. The  distress  of  the  country  reached  its  climax, 
when  famine^  ai^d  pestilence  added  their  scourge  to  the 
horrors  of  war.  The  Protestant  preachers  were  all 
banished  from  the  state.   DesQlation  and  sorrow  increased 


TOE    HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  51 

from  day  to  day,  and  from  the  year  1636  until  1648, 
the  distress  of  the  few  remaining  inhabitants  surpassed 

all  power  of  description Golden  days — days  of 

rest  and  peace — returned  at  last,  when  the  fury  of  the 
storm  was  spent.  After  negotiations  continued  through 
many  years,  the  peace  of  Westphalia,  1648,  at  length 
brought  rest  to  the  oppressed  country  and  the  ruined 
church.  The  Elector  Charles  Louis  was  restored  to  all 
the  temporal  and  spiritual  rights  and  privileges  which 
pertained  to  his  station ;  only  one  single  institution,  that 
of  Starkenberg,  on  the  beautiful  Bergstrasse,  was  lost, 
and  the  few  Protestants  who  still  remained  in  it  either 
moved  away,  or  gradually  died  out.  The  Elector  did 
not  obtain  complete  possession  of  the  country  until  after 
the  Nuremburg  treaty  in  1649.  In  the  same  year,  the 
College  of  the  Church  Council  was  reorganized.  Out 
of  three  hundred  and  forty-seven  preachers,  who  lived 
in  the  Rhenish  Palatinate  before  the  war,  only  forty-two 
remained,  and  these  were  in  the  cities  and  towns  held 
in  possession  by  the  Swedes.  Of  those  driven  into  exile 
during  the  war,  and  scattered  through  all  the  countries 
of  Europe,  only  fifty-four  returned  to  their  native  land. 
Loth  indeed  were  the  enraged  monks  to  retire  from  the 
convents  and  churches  which  they  held  in  their  pos- 
session; they  protested  and  appealed  to  the  terms  of 
occupancy  of  the  year  1624;  but  the  restitution  through- 
out the  Palatinate  was  based  on  the  articles  of  1618,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  give  up  everything.  The  autho- 
rity of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  the  Swiss  reforma- 
tion in  doctrine  and  Churcli  discipline,  are  reestablished. 
The  College  of  the'Church  Council,  the  pastorates,  the 
schools,  are  again  occupied  according  to  thd  old  order. 
The  Elector  accords  perfect  liberty  of  conscience  to  the 
Papists;  but  the  public  celebration  of  "their  worship  is 
confined  to  those  localities  in  which  it  is  secured  to  them 


52  .         HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

by  special  agreements  with  the  neighbouring  Catholic 
princes  and  bishops.     The  Lutherans  enjoy  the  Hberty 
and  immunities  which  the  peace  of  Westphalia  guaran- 
ties.    The  Elector  Charles  Louis  deserves  great  com- 
mendation for  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  Palatinate, 
which  had  recently  been  so  cruelly  devastated.     The 
mental  cultivation  of  the  clergy,  which  had  been  terribly 
depressed  by  the  tedious  war,  was  a  matter  of  great 
concern  to  him.     He  is  the  first  Prince  of  the  German 
empire  who  professed  to  be  the  patron  of  principles  of 
religious  toleration.     LLis  endeavours  to  eff'ect  a  union 
of  the  different  Christian  communions  were  of  no  avail 
in  that  particular  respect;  but  it  was  much,  that  he  pro- 
cured the  preparation  of  a  common  liturgy  for  all  Pro- 
testants in  his  provinces,  although  it  was  never  perfectly 
introduced.    In  the  midst  of  these  noble  efforts,  Charles 
Louis  died,  August  28,  1680.     He  was  succeeded  by  his 
son,  Charles,  whose  entrance  upon  the  government  was  full 
of  rich  promise,  and  gave  strong  support  to  the  interests 
of  the  Reformed  Church ;  but  a  melancholy  disposition, 
the  result  of  sickness,  kept  him  aloof  from  public  affairs ; 
he  died.  May  16,  1685,  and  with  him  falls  the  main 
stay   of  the   Zwinglian   Confession.      The   Heidelberg 
Catechism  became,  from  this  time  forth,  an  arena  of 
perpetual  strife;  the  most  violent  persecutions  assailed 
it,  and  an  end  of  it,  in  the  Palatinate,  had  well  nigh 
been  made  by  fire  and  fagot. 

Up  to  this  time  all  attempts  of  the  Papal  court  to 
uproot  Protestantism,  and  keep  the  Roman  hierarchy 
erect,  had  been .  frustrated.  All  the  strokes  of  policy, 
and  the  power  of  the  mightiest  among  men,  had  b^en 
invoked  in  vain;  all  the  hew  orders  which  had  been 
organised,  laboured  in  \mn  ■  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
new  doctrine.  Another  plan  was  now  adopted;  the 
idea  was  nothing  less  than  to"  bring  over  to  the  Papacy 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  53 

the  princes  and  regents  of  those  countries  in  which  Pro- 
testantism preponderated,  by  brilliant  promises,  and  by 
liolding  up  before  them  the  prospect  of  earthly  crowns. 
Already  they  had  succeeded  in  winning  over  to  the 
Papacy  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  by  the  offer  of  the  crown 
of  Poland,  and  the  provinces  of  the  Palatinate  came 
under  the  government  of  Catholic  princes.  The  Elec- 
tor Philip  William,  formerly  Prince  of  Neuberg,  and 
an  adherent  of  the  Church  of  Pome,  enters,  in  the  year 
1685,  on  the  government  of  the  Palatinate.  Vain  is 
the  protest  of  the  Count  of  Palatine,  Louis  Leopold  of 
Veldeuz.  The  close  relation  to  the  imperial  house 
secures  to  the  Elector  Philip  William  the  peaceable 
possession  of  the  Palatinate.  From  Dusseldorf  Philip 
W^illiam  sends  a  written  assurance  to  the  Grand  Stew- 
ard, and  the  Privy  Council,  that  he  will  maintain  intact 
the  Swabian  treaty,  and  repeats  this  assurance  to  Fre- 
deric W^illiam,  Elector  of  Brandenburg.  His  regula- 
tions concerning  matters  of  religious  and  church  order 
breathe  the  spirit  of  moderation  and  equity;  but  certain 
suspicious  expressions  occur  in  them,  to  which,  when 
his  attention  is  called  by  the  Church  Council,  he  gives 
explanations  calculated  to  allay  the  anxieties  of  his 
Protestant  subjects.  The  choir  of  the  Garrison  Church 
must  be  given  over  for  two  years  to  the  remaining 
Catholic  inhabitants  of  Heidelberg,  and,  in  1686,  the 
Jesuits  are  already  in  Heidelberg.  The  former  court 
preachers  of  the  Elector  Charles  are  thrown  into  prison, 
and  condemned  to  an  ignominious  and  severe  punish- 
ment. Notwithstanding  the  profound  agitation  of  the 
people,  the  Gregorian  Calendar  is  introduced,  and,  in 
1687,  the  Catholic  worship  has  been  already  eyvery  where 
established.  By  order  of  the  Elector,  the  Catholics 
must  have  the  free  use  of  the  bells  of  the  Reformed 
churches,   and*  of  the   church-yards.      Fresh   Catholic 


54  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

clergy,  and  members  of  various  orders  make  their 
appearance.  Public  processions  are  held,  and  a  con- 
vent is  built  for  the  Capuchins.  The  Jesuits,  the 
Monks,  and  other  Romish  priests  insult  the  Protestants 
in  various  ways ;  their  attacks  are  directed  mainly  upon 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Among  all  the  questions 
of  this  Catechism,  none  endured  so  much  contradiction 
and  assault  as  the  famous  80th  question,  concerning  the 
difference  between  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  Popish 
mass.  The  Jesuits  instituted  a  Thesis  against  it,  at 
Heidelberg,  in  1685;  the  Lutherans  joined  them  in  the 
attack,  although  from  different  motives  and  reasons. 
At  the  suggestion  of  the  Reformed  theologians,  Fabri- 
tius  and  Mieg,  a  certain  Nicolas  Gtirtler  answered 
them  both,  and  published,  anonymously,  a  dissertation 
in  defence  of  the  Heidelberg,  or  Palatinate  Catechism, 
notwithstanding  the  Elector  had  enjoined  silence  upon 
the  disputants.  John  Louis  Fabritius  himself  gave 
occasion  to  another  dispute  about  this  question,  in  1687. 
On  the  18th  of  January,  he  delivered  a  controversial 
lecture  at  Heidelberg,  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
between  Philopistis  and  Anagnostis,  in  which  he  main- 
tained, that  in  the  80th  question  nothing  more  was 
taught  than  what  the  Lutherans  themselves  held;  and 
he  laid  special  stress  on  the  fact,  that  the  ecclesiastical 
regulations  of  the  Electors,  Otto  Henry,  Frederic  III., 
and  Louis,  agreed  entirely  in  this  resp.ect.  In  answer 
to  this  discussion  another  made  its  appearance:  "A 
new  method  of  the  Heidelberg  Reformed  to  attack  the 
Lutherans,  on  the  occasion  of  the  dissertation  upon  the 
80th  question  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  held  at 
Heidelberg,  January  18,  1687;.  a  theological  discussion 
under  the  presidency  of  John  Frederic  Mayer,  April  29, 
1687,  subjected  to'  examination  by  M.  Nathaniel  Falk, 
at  Wittemberg.     Dr.  Mayer  here  endeavours  to  prove 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISif.  55 

that  this  new  method  had  been  invented  by  the  Re- 
formed only  in  order  to  excite  the  Catholics  against  the 
Lutherans.  Both  dissertations,  Mayer's,  and  that  of 
Fabritius,  are  printed  together,  and  translated  from 
the  Latin  into  the  German  language,  with  the  following 
title :  "  Some  Notice  and  Explanation  of  the  80th  Ques- 
tion of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  as  it  was  set  forth  in 
a  dialogue  between  Philopistis"  and  Anagnostis,  by  John 
Louis  Fabritius,  Heidelberg,  1687,  and  refuted  by  John 
Frederic  Mayer,  so  far  as  it  is  contrary  to  Lutheran 
doctrines.  By  this  means  put  in  print  out  of  regard 
for  those  who  may  desire  information  on  this  matter. 
Published  at  Leipzig,  1720."  The  arrangement  of  the 
above  Latin  treatise  is  somewhat  changed  in  this  pub- 
lication; the  corollaries  which  had  been  appended  to 
the  dissertation  of  Fabritius  were  omitted,  and  some 
remarks  and  explanations  on  the  80th  question  were 
added. 

The  unhappy  French  war  broke  out  in  1688.  The 
miseries  of  this  war  were  aggravated  by  the  terrible 
evils  of  intolerance,  and  the  spirit  of  persecution.  The 
blame  of  all  the  disasters  and  confusion  which  arose 
from  it,  is  due  to  the  malicious  frivolity  with  which  the 
French  generals  favoured  the  unlawful  assumptions  of 
certain  of  the  country  clergy,  which  the  Elector  Philip 
William,  who  was  soon  dispossessed  of  his  provinces, 
was  unable  to  hinder.  The  bailiwicks  of  the  Palatinate 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  were  taken  possession  of 
by  the  enemy  in  this  year,  and  the  ecclesiastical  condi- 
tion of  the  Protestants  in  that  district  was  subjected  to 
the  most  deplorable  change,  through  the  violence  of  the 
French,  The  property  and  revenues  of  the  churches 
were  seized  by  the  generals  of  the  hostile  armies.  In 
the  bailiwick  Germersheim,  which  France  designed  to 
retain,  all  the -churches,  parsonages,  and  schoolhouses 


56  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE    OF 

were  transferred  to  the  Catholic  priests  and  orders,  and 
in  other  Reformed  churches,  under  favour  of  the  French 
generals,  the  Simultaneiim  was  introduced.  The  fortune 
of  war  subjected  the  Palatinate  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Rhine  to  the  French,  and  the  city  of  Heidelberg 
was  surrendered  by  agreement,  October  25, 1688.  True, 
as  usual,  the  promise  was  given  to  attempt  no  change 
in  church  affairs;  but  it  is  well  known  how  little  regard 
is  shown  to  the  sacredness  of  a  promise  once  spoken;  the 
chief  commanders  of  the  French  army  paid  no  respect 
to  it. 

On  the  left  bank  of  the  Rhine  the  distress  was  ex- 
treme, and  the  heaviest  blows  fell  on  the  Reformed 
preachers  and  schoolmasters.  A  large  number  of  them 
were  taken  as  prisoners  to  Alsace  and  Mayence,  because, 
bereft  of  all  income,  they  were  unable  to  pay  the  heavy 
contributions  levied  upon  them;  others,  terrified  by  this 
barbarity,  betook  themselves  to  flight.  The  Reformed 
worship  was  almost  entirely  suspended,  and  the  schools 
could  no  longer  be  held.  The  Church  Council  appealed 
to  the  court  at  Paris;  but  obtained  neither  answer  nor 
mitigation  of  the  sufferings  of  the  oppressed.  The 
Elector  Philip  William  issued  an  order  from  Neuberg, 
on  the  Donau,  to  reduce  the  number  of  the  Palatinate 
councillors,  and  officers  in  the  Reformed  courts  of  jus- 
tice in  the  country,  and  also  that  of  the  preachers  and 
schoolmasters.     In  this  way  many  were  dismissed. 

Philip  William  died  at  Vienna,  September  2,  1690. 
In  the  midst  of  these  sad  events,  the  Papists  celebrated 
their  triumph  over  the  Protestants,  and  the  Jesuits 
scoffed  in  the  most  wanton  manner  at  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism..  They  deemed  it. especially  proper  to  make 
a  noise  at  this  time,  about,  the  80th  question.  They 
published  two  t^'acts  againsfiti '  The  first  bears  the  title 
— "Prosecution  for  defamation,  instituted  in  the  court 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  57 

of  naked  and  simple  Reason,  by  Truth  against  the  Cal- 
umny which  is  imputed  to  the  Catholics  in  the  80th 
question  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism."  The  other 
bears  the  inscription:  "Calumny  between  Sacrum  and 
Sapum."  James  L'Enfant,  who  then  resided  at  Heidel- 
berg, opposed  them  courageously  and  vigorously.  He 
wrote  against  these  tracts  two  letters,  which  were 
appended  to  his  "  Preservative  against  reunion  with  the 
Roman  See,"  and  constitute  the  fifth  part,  or  volume,  of 
this  book,  with  the  title,  "  The  Innocence  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism."  L'Enfant  inflamed  the  Jesuits  with 
such  hatred  by  this  means,  that  his  superiors  advised 
him,  on  the  ground  of  his  personal  safety,  to  betake 
himself  to  some  other  place.  His  vindication  of  the 
Catechism  met  with  a  sad  fate;  the  greater  part  of  the 
copies  was  burnt  in  a  fire  which  broke  out  in  Heidel- 
berg. Thirty-two  years  afterwards,  this  resolute  de- 
fender determined  to  reprint  it  with  an  appendix.  It 
appeared  with  the  following  title,  in  the  French  lan- 
guage: "The  Innocence  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
in  opposition  to  two  tracts  of  a  Jesuit  of  the  Palatinate; 
to  which  are  appended,  Discourses  on  the  Catechism, 
the  Formularies  and  Confession  of  Faith.  By  M.  L'En- 
fant, Amsterdam,  1723." 

Under  the  successor  of  Philip  William,  his  son,  the 
Elector  John  William,  the  distress  of  the  country,  and 
the  misery  of  the  Protestants  were  terribly  aggravated. 
The  armies  of  the  powers  which  were  allied  against 
France  gained  some  advantage  over  the  enemy,  and  one 
part  of  the  Rhenish  Palatinate  was  wrested  from  him; 
but  the  fortune  of  •War  again  declared  itself  for  the 
armies  of  France,  which  had  been  heavily^  reinforced. 
By  one  of  these  armies  Heidelberg  was  taken,  May  11, 
1693,  and  after  unheard  of  cruelties  inflicted  on  the 
inhabitants,  their  city  was  laid  in  ashes. 


58  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

The  mischief  resulting  to  the  Protestant  Church  in 
the  Palatinate  from  this  sad  calamity,  was  irreparable. 
In  the  country  occupied  by  the  enemy,  law  and  order 
have  no  voice;  the  vacant  stations  are  not  occupied; 
the  College  of  the  Church  Council  is  composed,  in  the 
year  1693,  of  two  persons,  John  Louis  Fabritius  and 
John  Salmeith,  of  whom,  the  former  resided  at  Frank- 
fort, the  latter  at  Nuremberg.  The  untiring  energy  of 
Fabritius  wrestles  against  the  storms  of  adversity,  and 
saves  all  that  can  be  saved  in  these  unhappy  times. 
The  majority  of  the  inhabitants  flee  from  the  devastated 
cities  and  towns.  The  Romish  orders  remain  and 
occupy  the  greater  part  of  the  churches  and  parsonages. 
Before  the  close  of  the  year  1693,  a  hundred  Reformed 
churches,  with  a  great  many  parsonages  and  school- 
houses,  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  monkish  fraterni- 
ties. At  last,  in  the  year  1697,  the  peace,  so  long 
desired,  is  concluded  at  Ryswick;  but  the  clause  of  the 
fourth  article  of  this  treaty  of  peace,  embitters  all  the 
joy  which  the  Protestants  might  huve  derived  from  it, 
and  places  them  in  a  position  more  disadvantageous 
than  that  in  which  they  had  been  during  the  war, 
because,  by  virtue  of  this  treaty,  all  the  changes  in  the 
Church  establishment,  effected  during  the  war,  are 
made  permanent  by  law.  The  condition  of  the  Protest- 
ants now  becomes  deplorable  in  the  extreme.  In  the 
bailiwick  of  Germersheim,  the  subjects  of  the  Palati- 
nate lose  not  only  the  churches  and  church  property, 
but  freedom  of  conscience  and  worship  also.  The  fate 
of  these  people  was,  beyond  description,  wretched. 
In  the  bailiwick  of  Kreuznach,  the  Cl^rk  of  the  district 
seized,  by  military  execution,  many  of  the  churches  and 
parsonages.  The  entire  church  property  of  the  Re- 
formed was  sequestered,  and  a  commission  composed  of 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  69 

members  of  the  Electoral  Council  was  appointed  to 
caiTy  the  sequestration  into  effect. 

By  an  electoral  edict,  the  Simultaneum  for  the  three 
Confessions  adopted  in  the  German  empire,  is  intro- 
duced in  all  churches  throughout  the  country.  This 
blow  strikes  none  but  the  Protestants,  because  the 
churches  which  have  been  taken  from  them,  remain,  by 
express  restriction,  in  the  private  possession  of  the 
Catholics;  the  churches  connected  with  Convents,  enjoy 
exemption  by  virtue  of  another  decree  to  that  effect. 
The  edict  respecting  the  Simultaneum  was  carried  into 
effect  by  military  force.  The  charity  funds  in  the 
Reformed  churches  were  declared  common  by  an  elec- 
toral decree,  and  great  changes  were  introduced  in  the 
magistracy,  in  the  cities  and  throughout  the  country. 

Like  an  angel  of  mercy,  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg 
steps  forth  and  takes  an  affectionate  interest  in  his 
oppressed  brethren  of  the  Reformed  faith.  But  for  his 
mediation,  neither  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  nor  the 
Swiss  Confession  would  have  preserved  their  existence 
in  the  Palatinate.  An  appeal  had  already  been  made 
to  the  Body  of  the  religious  states,  at  Regensburg,  on 
account  of  these  ecclesiastical  grievances.  The  evan- 
gelical States  had  already  transmitted  an  exposition, 
through  the  ambassadors  of  the  Palatinate,  to  the  Elec- 
tor John  William ;  but  little  attention  was  paid  to  it. 
The  attempt  was  made  to  evade  the  matter  by  artifices. 
The  Elector  Frederic,  of  Brandenburg,  now  empowered 
the  Baron  Von  Wylich,  at  Botzlaer,  to  make  earnest 
representations,  in  the  name  of  the  evangelical  States, 
to  the  Elector  John  William,  in  relation  to  a  removal 
of  these  religious  grievances.  The  ambassa4prs  of  Eng- 
land and  Sweden,  together  with  the  Dutch  Republic, 
joined  in  this  demand.  Protracted  negotiations  were 
instituted  with -the  Electoral  Court  by  these  ambassa- 


60  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

dors.  The  Electoral  Court  attempted  to  evade  the  main 
point  and  a  final  settlement.  At  last,  the  Elector  of 
the  Palatinate  communicated  his  ultimatum  to  the 
Baron  Von  Wylich,  March  18,  1700;  it  did  not  satisfy 
the  evangelical  States,  and  on  the  10th  of  April,  the 
ambassadors  took  leave  of  the  Elector's  Court. 

The  Corporation  of  the  evangelical  States  now  appealed 
to  the  Court  of  the  Emperor,  and  a  deputation  of  the 
empire  was  appointed  to  investigate  the  religious 
grievances  in  the  Palatinate;  but  the  Catholic  portion 
of  this  committee  could  not  agree,  as  was  always  the 
case,  with  the  evangelical  portion,  in  relation  to  the 
mode  of  redressing  these  grievances.  King  Frederic  I., 
of  Prussia,  gave  the  Catholic  clergy  of  the  three  princi- 
palities of  Halberstadt,  Magdeburg,  and  Minden,  to 
understand,  that  if,  within  the  space  of  six  weeks,  the 
state  of  affairs  in  the  Palatinate  was  not  changed,  the 
threat  which  he  had  already  made  respecting  the  seques- 
tration of  their  property  and  restrictions  upon  their  pub- 
lic worship,  would  positively  go'  into  effect.  Full  of 
anxiety  and  alarm,  Father  Briininghof,  the  Superior  of 
the  Capuchins  at  Halberstadt,  sets  out  with  all  despatch 
to  Hegensburg,  and  makes  a  remonstrance  to  the  Catho- 
lic States,  but  without  result.  King  Frederic,  without 
farther  parley,  appointed  a  commission,  June  9,  1705, 
which  at  once  took  possession  of  the  property  of  the 
Convents  and  Catholic  churches  of  the  three  principali- 
ties, Magdeburg,  Halberstadt,  and  Minden.  By  these 
earnest  proceedings,  the  imperial  Court  was  induced  to 
send  an  admonitory  note  to  the  Electors  of  Brandenburg 
and  the  Palatinate ;  from  this  ensued  the  first  declaration 
from  the  Elector  John  William,  which  was  not  alto- 
gether unfavourable;  but  it  was  not  deemed  satisfactory. 
The  negotiations*  were  continued  at  Dusseldorf,  and  the 
interim  compromise  was  put  in  effect,  and  appeared  in 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  61 

print  in  November,  1705,  under  the  title  of  the  Palati- 
nate Declaration. 

On  all  occasions,  when  attacks  were  made  on  the 
Reformed,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  the  target  at 
which  the  main  blows  were  aimed.  A  noted  enemy 
appeared  against  it  in  the  beginning  of  this  century. 
Christian  E,ittmeyer,  a  member  of  the  Elector's  privy 
council,  went  over  to  the  Romish  Church,  and  in  1707, 
wrote  "Catholic  remarks  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
in  several  sections."  In  this  treatise,  he  attacks  certain 
questions  of  the  Catechism,  proves  that  they  tend  to  the 
defamation  and  dishonour  of  his  prince,  defends  the 
Popish  doctrines  of  the  Mass,  the  Invocation  of  the 
Saints,  the  worship  of  pictures.  Tradition,  Good  works, 
Purgatory,  etc.  Many  theologians  arrayed  themselves 
against  this  influential  enemy.  The  Professors  of  Theo- 
logy at  the  University  of  Heidelberg,  Louis  Christian 
Mieg,  and  John  Christian  Kirchmeyer,  who  had  been 
challenged  by  name  in  Rittmeyer's  treatise,  issued,  in 
reply  to  it,  "Christian  Observations  respecting  the  first 
section  of  the  Catholic  Remarks  on  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism by  Mr.  Christian  Rittmeyer,  of  the  Elector's 
Council,  in  which  an  inquiry  is  instituted,  whether  the 
article  touching  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  agrees  with 
the  Faith  of  the  Primitive  Christian  Church,  by  the 
Reformed  Professors  of  Theology  at  Heidelberg ;  printed 
in  1707."  Another  title  is  in  these  words:  "Christian 
Observations  of  the  Reformed  Professors  of  Theology  at 
Heidelberg,  on  the  Catholic  Remarks  upon  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  by  Christian  Rittmeyer,  of  the  Elector's 
Council.  Heidelbecg,  1704."  Judged  by  the  title,  this 
treatise  is  distinct  from  the  former ;  but  in  the  discussion 
they  agree  fully ;  for  in  the  latter,  also,  there  is  a  refu- 
tation of  the  first  section  of  Rittmeyer's  remarks,  and 
nothing  more. .  Rittmeyer  was  not  silenced.     He  was 


62  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

particularly  provoked,  that  the  Heidelberg  Professors 
had  represented  Vincentius  Levinensis,  in  their  refuta- 
tion of  the  preface  to  the  Catholic  Remarks,  as  a  semi- 
pelagian  and  a  heretic.  Thereupon,  he  published  the 
following  treatise:  "Christian  Rittmeyer's,  member  of 
the  Elector's  Council,  introductory  admonition,  and 
earnest  request,  addressed  to  the  resident  gentlemen, 
Professors  of  Theology,  that  they  would  be  pleased  here- 
after, in  answering  his  Catholic  Remarks,  to  adhere  more 
closely  to  the  truth  than  they  have  done  in  the  recent 
publication  of  their  Observations,  wherein  twenty-live 
untruths,  on  one-half  sheet,  are  detected,  and  with  all 
modesty,  are  pointed  out,  together  with  the  assured 
promise,  that  between  two  and  three  hundred  similar 
instances  shall,  in  a  future  refutation,  be  exposed. 
Heidelberg,  December  31,  1707." 

In  reply  to  this  rejoinder,  the  Professors  published 
"The  Christian  Warning  of  the  Reformed  Professors  of 
Theology  at  Heidelberg,  on  the  preceding  Admonitions 
of  Mr.  Christian  Rittmeyer,  member  of  the  Elector's 
Council,  and  their  pertinent  request  addressed  to  him, 
that  in  his  future  answers  to  their  Christian  Observa- 
tions, he  would  be  pleased  to  adopt  another  method,  and 
first  refer  to  the  authors  whom  he  quotes,  before  he 
accuses  them  of  false  allegations,  and  then  investigate 
the  matter  in  the  fear  of  God;  wherein,  also,  the  nullity 
of  the  twenty-five  untruths,  and  of  other  rejoinders  from 
him,  is  shown,     Heidelberg,  January  17,  1708." 

Here  the  controversy  stopped;  neither  the  one  party 
nor  the  other  published  anything  more  on  the  subject. 
The  Elector  gave  the  parties  to  understand,  that  these 
polemical  writings  displeased  him.  The  Elector  was, 
in  fact,  so  great  a  friend  of  the  Papists,  and  a  still  more 
devoted  supported  of  the  Jesuits,  that  he  could  not  bea;r 
to  have  anything  written  against  them.     He  gave  the 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  63 

Jesuits  various  positions  as  Professors  in  the  University, 
the  rich  Convent  of  Neuburg,  near  Heidelberg,  and  the 
revenues  of  the  Branchweiler  Hospital,  which  formerly- 
belonged  to  the  Church  property  of  the  Reformed.  The 
Jesuit,  Paul  Usleber,  defended,  in  a  public  lecture  at 
Heidelberg,  certain  Theses,  which  gave  occasion  to  vio- 
lent commotions.  The  Elector  John  William  died, 
June  8,  1716. 

Under  the  administration  of  Charles  Philip,  who  took 
possession  of  the  Palatinate  immediately  after  the  death 
of  his  father,  a  terrible  tempest  burst  upon  the  advocates 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  The  storm  was  preceded 
by  a  pleasant  calm.  Charles  Philip  introduced  many 
good  and  beneficial  regulations  in  the  country,  and 
golden  days  were  expected  under  his  government.  All 
at  once,  April  24,  1719,  a  decree  is  issued  by  the  Elec- 
tor, which  forbids  his  subjects  all  farther  use  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism;  this  decree  was  repeated,  May  2; 
and  notwithstanding  the  intense  excitement  produced 
by  it,  the  order  was  put  in  force  in  most  places  by  the 
magistrates.  All  that  had  hitherto  been  done  against 
the  Catechism  seemed  trivial  compared  with  the  uproar 
which  was  now  made  against  it.  A  Romish  publisher 
ventured  to  issue  a  new  edition  of  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism; he  printed  on  the  title-page  the  Electoral  coat 
of  arms,  and  the  words,  "  with  permission  of  his  High- 
ness, the  Elector."  This  gave  the  Papists  an  opportu- 
nity for  strife,  and  persuaded  the  Elector,  who  was 
naturally  of  a  mild  disposition,  to  issue  the  following 
mandate:  "That  in  all  the  Electoral  provinces,  the  Cate- 
chism, the  use  of  which  in  the  Reformed  churches,  was 
a  source  of  great  scandal,  and  which  had  been  printed 
in  his  name,  and  with  the  Electoral  arms,  should  be  sup- 
pressed, not  only  because  this  proceeding  was  impudent, 
scandalous,  and^worthy  of  punishment,  but  also,  because 


64  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OP 

the  80th  question,  and  other  articles,  were  contrary 
to  the  Elector's  majesty,  the  laws  of  the  realm,  and 
other  imperial  decrees,  which  had  recently  been  promnl- 
ged.  Wherefore,  the  Reformed  Consistories,  and  all 
subject  to  them,  were  admonished  to  yield  obedience  to 
the  present  order  within  three  months  at  farthest,  and 
to  secure  all  copies  in  which  the  80th  question  and 
other  articles  were  contained.  And  in  order  that  this 
Electoral  decree  might  go  into  force  at  once,  the  govern- 
ment issued  a  decree  to  the  Reformed  Church  Council, 
May  2,  in  which  they  were  commanded  to  call  in  all 
copies  of  the  new  edition,  and  in  addition,  to  take  mea- 
sures, that  in  future  no  copies  in  which  the  aforesaid 
80th  question,  and  other  offensive  things  which  were 
not  to  be  endured,  should  be  brought  into  the  Electoral 
provinces. 

The  Reformed  Church  Council  reported,  hereupon, 
that  the  new  edition  had  been  published,  not  by  them, 
but  by  a  Catholic  book-printer,  who  had  secured  the 
Elector's  permission,  as  far  back  'as  1699,  to  print  the 
school  books  and  catechisms  of  the  Reformed  Church; 
that,  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Council,  he  had 
affixed  the  arms  of  the  Elector,  together  with  the  words 
which  had  given  such  offence,  respecting  the  permission 
and  authority  of  the  Elector;  that,  so  far  as  concerned 
the  use  of  this  Catechism,  ever  since  the  Reformation, 
it  had  been  used  as  a  symbolieal  bookby  the  Reformed, 
in  churches  and  schools,  both  in  this  country  and  in 
other  kingdoms,  and  also,  in  the  year  1618,  had  been 
declared  and  established  as  such,  by  the  Synod  of  Dort; 
and,  inasmuch  as  the  Elector  Philip  AVilliam,  of  blessed 
memory,  when  his  Privy  Council  had  held  a  conference 
with  the  Church  Council  in  1685,  upon  this  very 
80th  question,  had  allowed  the  Reformed  to  retain 
the  use  of  their  Catechism,  without  molestation,  and 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  65 

had  enjoined  only  this,  that  they  should  neither  con- 
demn his  Electoral  Highness  personally,  nor  denounce 
other  Catholics  as  idolaters;  and  that  therefore  it  could 
not  he  forbidden,  either  by  the  decree  of  the  empire,  or 
by  the  mandate  recently  promulged,  just   as  little  as 
from  a  Catholic  stand-point,  the  anathemas  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Trent,  and  the  Bull  of  Pope  Pius  VI.,  could  be 
included  in  the   defamatory  articles  which  were  pro- 
hibited.    In  view  of  all  this,  they  hoped  that  his  Elec- 
toral Highness  would  not  regard  the  use  of  their  Cate- 
chism as  an  innovation,  but  rather,  serenely  take  into 
consideration,  how  painful  it  must  be  to  his  Reformed 
subjects  if  they  were  deprived  of  their  Catechism,  which 
was  their  only  symbolical  book,  and  their  sole  means  of 
instructing  the  youth  in  religion;  moreover,  that  if  the 
same  should  be  changed,  they  would  be  compelled  to 
separate  from  their  co-religionists,  and  from  their  doc- 
trinal confessions,  inasmuch  as  they  constantly  used  the 
Catechism,  just  as  it  is  printed  in  questions  and  answers. 
In  addition,  the  Church  Council  assured  him,  that  as 
the    Reformed   refrained   from   condemning   others,   it 
would  always  be  borne  in  mind,  at  this  point,  that  there 
is  a  great  difference  between  the  condemnation  of  a  doc- 
trine and  of  persons,  and  that  least  of  all,  should  any 
inference  be  drawn  prejudicial  to  the  noble  person  of 
the  Elector,  or  any  other  Catholics.     Finally,  they  most 
humbly  beseech  his  Electoral  Highness,  inasmuch  as  he 
is  bound  by  official  obligation,  to  see  to  it  that  the  Cate- 
chism which  has  been  assailed,  shall  be  retained,  on  the 
one  hand,  not  to  take  it  amiss  that  they  cannot  give  the 
desired  order,  and,  ott  the  otlier,  to  command  his  officials 
to  refrain  from  the  Suppression."  -^^ 

This   written  representation  was  accompanied  by  a 
verbal  message;    but    nothing    was    accomplished    by 
either.     The  apswer  was   returned,  that  the  mandate 
5 


6«|  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

which  had  been  issued  was  final,  and  all  those  who  pre- 
sumed to  defend  the  Catechism  by  declarations  of  this 
sort,  or  to  exert  themselves  in  any  way  for  its  retention, 
should  be  severely  punished.  At  the  same  time,  the 
government  of  the  Elector  demanded  the  nave  of  the 
church  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  Heidelberg.  The  Church 
Council  resisted  the  demand,  and  the  Government  took 
forcible  possession  of  the  church.  The  Church  Council 
reported  the  matter,  citing  other  grievances  also,  to  the 
Corporation  of  the  Evangelical  States,  at  Regensburg. 
Nearly  all  the  Protestant  powers  of  Europe,  particularly 
the  Kings  of  England  and  Prussia,  the  States  of  Holland 
and  West  Friesland,  and  the  Prince  of  Hesse-Cassel, 
took  a  deep  interest  in  this  matter,  and  endeavoured  to 
persuade  the  Elector  to  annul  these  innovations.  Pope 
Clement  V.  took  pains  to  confirm  the  Elector  in  the 
principles  which  he  had  expressed. 

After  several  fruitless  endeavours  to  bring  the  Elector 
to  another  decision,  the  deplorable  measure  of  reprisals 
was  adopted  by  some  of  the  Evangelical  States.  The 
Prince  of  Hesse-Cassel  ordered  the  Catholic  church 
at  St.  Goor  and  Langenswalbach  to  be  closed;  the 
King  of  England  that  of  Zelle,  and  the  King  of  Prussia 
shut  up  the  Cathedral  at  Minden,  and  sequestered 
some  monasteries  in  the  Principality  of  Halberstadt. 
Moved  by  these  decided  measures,  the  Elector  Philip 
surrendered  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to  the  Re- 
formed. The  Reformed  courts  took  the  part  of  their 
oppressed  brethren  of  the  same  religious  persuasion,  in 
relation  to  the  suppression  of  the  Catechism,  and  urged 
the  Elector,  both  by  writing  and  by  embassies,  to  grant 
the  public  the  free  use  of  this  symbolical  book ;  but,  'at 
first,  their  application  met  with  little  attention.  The 
Elector,  through*  his  mini'ster,  declared  himself  to  this 
efl'ect:  "That  his  intention  never  had  been  to  enjoin 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  67 

upon  his  Eeformed  subjects  the  least  command  which 
could  affect  their  principles,  in  matters  of  faith,  in  the 
smallest  degree ;  but  he  desired  only  that  which  was  con- 
tained in  the  80th  question,  and  other  articles,  implying 
disrespect  and  contempt  of  his  majesty,  the  Emperor, 
together  with  other  crowned  heads  of  the  Catholic  faith, 
and  of  his  own  person,  as  king  of  the  country,  should  be 
omitted,  because  such  abusive  language  and  maledic- 
tions, which  were  infused  into  the  children,  in  churches 
and  schools,  as  it  were,  with  their  mother's  milk,  were 
not  only  in  themselves  scandalous  in  the  commonwealth, 
injurious,  and  altogether  intolerable  on  the  part  of 
subjects  toward  their  Catholic  rulers,  but  had  also  been 
declared  unjustifiable  by  Protestant  theologians  and 
lawyers." 

To  this,  the  Prussian  Envoy,  M.  Von  Hecht,  replied: 
"Just  as  little  as  the  evangelical  princes  and  states  of 
the  empire  presumed  to  make  any  alteration  in  the  free- 
dom of  conscience,  so  wisely  secured  in  the  articles  of 
compromise,  though  the  propositions  and  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  the  Confession  of  Pius  VI.,  and 
other  symbolic  books  of  the  Catholics,  were  inconsistent 
with  that  liberty,  notwithstanding  it  was  plain  as  the 
light  of  day,  that  curses  and  maledictions  were  contained 
in  these,  not  only  against  the  doctrines  of  the  Church, 
but  also  against  persons;  would  they  be  content,  that 
his  Electoral  Highness  should  undertake  to  change  any- 
thing in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  or  to  forbid  its 
unrestricted  use,  seeing  that  more  than  150  years  ago, 
at  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  it  had  been  defended,  and  sub- 
sequently introduced  into  all  Reformed  Churches  as  a 
symbolical  book,  arid  its  doctrines  had  lieen  adopted, 
and  by  virtue  of  the  toleration  of  the  Reformed  faith, 
had  been  established  by  treaty  in  the  German  empire. 
What  was  taught  in  the  80th  question,  concerning  the 


68  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

♦ 

difference  between  the  the  Lord's  Supper  and  the  Popish 
Mass,  belonged  to  the  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Reformed  religion,  and  its  open  and  unrestrained 
profession  to  liberty  of  conscience,  by  virtue  of  which 
those  churches  included  in  the  Roman  empire,  Avere 
free  to  confess  openly  whatever  they  believe,  according 
to  their  principles,  and  therefore  might  not,  and  could 
not  be  compelled  to  leave  out,  or  alter  what  they  say  in 
their  symbolical  books,  and  by  this  means,  in  a  measure 
to  retract  their  former  doctrine." 

Even  this  representation  failed  to  produce  the  desired 
effect.  The  states  of  the  Palatinate  insisted  on  the 
alteration  of  the  80th  question,  which  could  not  be  sym- 
bolical, because  it  was  first  printed  with  the  Catechism 
in  1684.  The  Prussian  minister  adhered  to  his  opinion, 
and  proved  that  the  gloss,  "accursed  idolatry,"  had 
always  been  in  the  Catechism,  and  might  be  found  in 
the  first  edition  of  1563.  Upon  this  the  envoys  of 
Prussia,  England,  Holland,  and  Hesse-Cassel,  engaged 
in  a  verbal  conversation  with  the  mi'nister  of  the  Palati- 
nate. The  Palatine  President,  M.  Von  Hillesheim, 
spoke  strongly,  and  with  great  bitterness,  against  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  maintpned:  "His  Electoral 
Highness  had  a  perfect  right  to  forbid  it;  the  80th  ques- 
tion contained  real  calumnies,  and  was  appended  only 
to  retaliate  on  the  Council  of  Trent;  the  Emperor  Maxi- 
milian had  expressly  forbidden,  it;  audit  could  not  be 
proved  that  it  had  been  allo^yed  by  subsequent  enact- 
ments of  peace:  the  adoption  by  the  Synod  of  Dort  did 
not  concern  the  empire:  the  arrns  of  the  Elector,  and 
the  assumed  permission,  had  been  fraudulently  imprinted, 
and  the  offence  demanded  punishment;  the  Question 
must  be  altered ;  then  the  ,use  of  the  Catechism  would 
not  be  prohibited,  ^nd  complete  religious  liberty  would 
be  allowed." 


TOE    HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  69 

The  ambassadors  maintained,  on  the  other  hand: 
"There  were  no  calumnies  in  the  Catechism,  but  simply 
the  fundamental  articles  and  doctrines  of  the  Evangeli- 
cal Reformed  religion;  they  knew  notliing  about  the 
special  prohibition  of  the  Emperor  Maximilian  II. ;  but 
they  did  know  that  the  Elector  Frederic  III.,  in  the 
year  1566,  had  laid  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  before 
the  Emperor,  and  the  whole  Roman  empire,  at  the  Diet 
of  Auirsbur<^  and  had  defended  it;  also,  subsequently, 
without  this  Catechism  ever  having  been  forbidden  in 
any  treaty  of  peace,  or  in  any  other  decrees  of  the  empire, 
the  Reformed  religion  had  been  adopted  and  established 
by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  and  the  same  religious 
privileges  had  been  conferred  and  settled  upon  them  as 
upon  others.  The  adoption  of  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism by  the  Synod  of  Dort,  had  been  done,  not  for 
Holland  only,  but  all  foreign  churches  represented  at 
this  Synod,  had  also  accepted  and  publicly  adopted  it 
as  a  symbolical  book,  so  that  it  neither  could,  nor  would 
be  permitted  to  other  religious  denominations  to  pre- 
scribe what  should  be  believed  and  taught.  Besides,  the 
Electoral  arms  and  the  alleged  authority  might  be  omit- 
ted; the  Church  Council  had  nothing  to  do  with  that;  the 
Catholic  publisher  had  inserted  these  without  their  know- 
ledge, and  he  was  the  proper  person  to  answer  for  it." 

Whilst  these  public  disputes  about  the  8()th  ques- 
tion of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  other  reli- 
gious grievances  of  the  Reformed,  in  the  Palatinate, 
were  under  consideration,  the  matter  came  before  the 
throne  of  the  Emperor.  An  imperial  manifesto  was 
addressed  to  the  Mector,  in  the  beginning  of  1720,  in 
which  he  was  advised  and  admonished  io  charge  the 
Church  Council,  and  other  learned  men,  to  investigate 
the  offensive  and  objectionable  question,  and  arrange, 
explain,  and  state  it,  both  in  respect  to  the  matter  and 


70  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

the  words,  in  accordance  with  the  ordinary  principles 
and  regulations  of  the  empire,  and  if  this  was  introduced 
into  the  work,  immediately  to  allow  the  free  use  of  the 
Catechism  to  his  subjects.  This  imperial  order  induced 
the  Elector  to  command  the  Reformed  Church  Coun- 
cillor, Prof.  Mieg,  to  consult  with  the  Vice-Chancellor, 
Von  Metzger,  and  Privy  Councillor  Bush,  and  also 
with  the  Lutheran  Consistorial  Director,  Schlosser,  and 
mutually  to  take  into  consideration  the  amendment  of 
the  80th  question.  Doctor  Mieg  hesitated,  for  good 
reason,  to  consult  with  the  persons  above  named;  there- 
fore, another  order  was  addressed  to  him  by  the  Elector, 
and  to  the  President  of  the  Reformed  Church  Council, 
that  they  should  draw  up  an  opinion  as  to  the  best  mode 
of  adjusting  this  matter  of  the  Catechism,  in  accordance 
with  the  gracious  intention  of  his  majesty,  the  Emperor. 
In  pursuance  of  this  commission,  they  transmitted  to 
the  Elector  an  elaborate  discussion,  in  which  they,  in 
the  first  place,  show,  by  many  and  weighty  reasons,  that 
it  is  not  in  their  power  to  alter  the  Catechism  in  the 
least.  Secondly,  they  declare  solemnly,  that  the  answer 
to  the  80th  question  was  inserted,  not  with  the  design 
to  insult  and  defame  others,  but  only  under  the  impulse 
of  a  conscience  persuaded  by  the  word  of  God ;  and  that 
the  reference  is  made,  not  to  persons,  but  to  doctrine, 
concerning  which,  judgment  must  be  expressed  accord- 
ing to  truth,  while  personal  opinions  are  to  be  uttered 
in  love.  Finally,  they  humbly  beseech  the  Elector  gra- 
ciously to  allow  his  Reformed  subjects  to  retain  their 
Catechism  without  any  alteration ;  but,  in  order  that  there 
may  be  no  possible  derogation  from  the  respect  and 
honour  due  to  his  Highness,  tjiey  deem  it  advisable  that 
he  issue  a  manifesto,  in  which  he  should  assign  as  rea- 
sons for  the  orde?r,  suppressing  "the  Catechism,  first,  that 
his  arms  and  name  and  permission  had  been  imprinted 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  71 

without  authority,  because  without  his  knowledge  and 
consent;  secondly,  because  it  had  appeared  to  him,  that 
in  the  80th  question  and  the  subsequent  comments,  the 
persons  of  Roman  Catholics  were  accused  of  a  damnable 
and  accursed  idolatry;  but  that  after  the  Electoral 
Church  Council  had  given  a  written  and  most  humble 
assurance  and  declaration  that,  on  this  point,  it  was  to 
be  specially  borne  in  mind,  that  there  is  a  distinction  to 
be  made,  in  respect  of  judgment,  between  doctrine  and 
persons;  and,  moreover,  that  this  judgment  is  not  pro- 
nounced against  the  person  of  his  Highness,  or  of  any 
other  Catholics,  he,  at  the  earnest  entreaty,  and  as  proof 
that  his  intention  had  never  been  to  oppress  his  Re- 
formed subjects  in  matters  of  religious  worship  and  con- 
science, would  permit  the  said  Reformed  Catechism  to 
be  printed  and  sold  in  his  dominions,  and  to  be  used 
without  restriction,  in  churches  and  schools,  but  with 
the  following  provisos:  1.  That  the  Electoral  arms  and 
alleged  permission,  or   authority,  should    be    omitted; 

2.  That  the  gloss  in  the  80th  question,  which  is  not 
authorized,  should  be  left  out,  or  more  mildly  expressed; 

3.  That  in  churches  and  schools,  it  should  be  strongly 
impressed  upon  the  Reformed,  that  the  Catechism  speaks 
of  doctrine,  and  not  of  persons,  and  therefore  does  not 
call  any  one  an  accursed  idolater;  therefore,  also,  all 
Reformed  persons  shall  refrain  from  applying  such  terms 
to  their  fellow  Christians;  4.  That  the  Catechism,  in 
this  doctrine,  is  concerned  more  with  the  instruction 
and  admonition  of  the  Reformed,  and  of  youth,  than 
unnecessarily  to  pronounce  judgment  and  condemnation 
upon  other  churches;  therefore,  also,  5.  That  on  all 
sides,  religious  denominations,  both  in  the  pulpit  and 
elsewhere,  shall  refrain  from  all  condemnation  of  per- 
sons, and  from  all  cursing,  defaming,  and  abuse  of 
others;  6.  Those,  however,  who  shall  do  such  things, 


72  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

shall  be  severely  punished  as  transgressors  of  the  Elec- 
tor's command,  of  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and  of  the 
recent  manifesto  of  the  Emperor." 

This  opinion  was  approved  by  the  Elector,  who  imme- 
diately published  an  order,  in  almost  its  very  words,  at 
Schwezzingen,  May  16,  1720,  by  means  of  which  he 
declared  his  gracious  pleasure,  that  the  Catechism  which 
had  by  a  former  decree  been  suppressed,  might  again 
be  printed  and  used,  without  restriction,  by  all  the 
Reformed  in  the  Palatinate,  until  such  time  as  might 
be  otherwise  ordered  by  the  entire  kingdom;  with  this 
express  and  well  understood  condition,  however,  that  on 
the  title-page  of  the  Catechism,  the  Electoral  arms, 
together  with  the  words,  "by  the  Elector's  authority," 
also,  "with  the  Elector's  permission,"  shall  be  erased; 
and  as  to  the  contents  of  the  same,  the  comment  on  the 
answer  to  the  80th  question,  which  contains  an  un- 
founded, offensive,  and  obnoxious  opinion,  which  is 
incongruous  with  the  text,  shall  be  left  out;  and,  be- 
sides, this  declaration  and  order  shall  be  printed  word 
for  word,  and  appended  to  the  new  edition. 

The  Court  of  the  Elector  attempted,  subsequently,  to 
excite  new  scruples,  because  it  was  intimated  to  the 
Elector,  that  the  gloss  on  the  80th  question  had  been 
first  inserted  in  the  year  1686  by  the  Court  preacher, 
Langhausen,  and  although  the  Prussian  minister  pro- 
duced a  copy,  published  in  1609,  in  Avhich  the  gloss, 
together  with  the  texts  of  sacred  Scripture,  was  printed, 
yet  a  brief  was  issued  by  the  Electoral  government, 
August  17,  1720,  in  which  a  report  was  demanded  from 
the  lleformed  Church  Council,  what  kind  of  Heidelberg 
Catechism  had  been  presented  . to,  and  adopted. by  the 
Synod  held  at  Dordrecht  in, the  year  1606]  But  inas- 
much as  the  date  of  the  year  mentioned  in  this  brief, 
as  that  in  wdiicli  the  Synod  of  Dort  was  held,  contained 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHIS.Af.  73 

a  gross  error,  for  it  was  held,  not  in  1606,  but  in  1618 
and  1619,  the  scruple  which  had  been  excited,  was  of 
the  less  importance,  because  the  lleformcd  Church 
Council  had  sufficiently  acknowledged,  in  the  memorial 
already  adduced,  that  such  glosses  were  not  valid,  and 
had  voluntarily  consented  to  their  omission.  Thus  the 
famous  dispute  about  the  80th  question  was  settled  at 
the  close  of  1720,  and  the  Reformed  retained  their 
cherished  Catechism,  together  with  the  contested  ques- 
tion, without  the  slightest  alteration. 

This  controversy  involved  another  dispute,  which, 
although  not  very  important,  was  conducted  with  great 
acrimony.  The  celebrated  Hamburg  theologian,  Erd- 
mann  Neumeister,  criticised  in  a  characteristic  treatise, 
the  distinction  which  the  Reformed  Church  Council  of 
the  Palatinate  had  made,  in  order  to  save  their  Cate- 
chism, between  doctrine  and  person  in  respect  to  the 
Mass,  which  the  Catechism  calls  an  accursed  idolatry, 
and  also,  between  material  and  formal  idolatry,  of  which 
the  one  is  sufficient  to  ensure  condemnation,  but  the 
other  is  not  always.  On  this  he  made  the  remark: 
"Oh!  how  this  must  sooth  the  Papists,  when  they  wor- 
ship the  wafer,  the  saints,  pictures,  and  relics  I  In  all 
this,  the  Reformed  recognise  them  as  fellow  Christians ! 
No  nian  of  the  Reformed  dare  say  to  them,  that  they 
commit  idolatry  in  so  doing;  suppose  it  is  only  a  mate- 
rial idolatry,  which  is  not  always  sufficient  for  condemna- 
tion, the  form  is  necessary  to  give  the  thing  existence; 
if  the  Popish  idolatry  were  not  formal,  it  could  be  no 
real  idolatry !  Let  a  Papist  hear  this.  Oh !  how  it  will 
confirm  him  in  his  \<^brship  of  the  wafer,  the  saints,  and 
other  things  which  are  not  (jod!  How  softly  he  will 
repose  on  this  Reformed  cushion !  How  eagerly  he  will 
persist  in  his  accustomed  idolatry !" 

In  opposition  to  this,  a  tract  made  its   appearance 


74  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

in  the  Palatinate,  with  the  title:  "A  short  answer 
to  the  Extract  of  Mr.  Neumeister,  in  which  the  distinc- 
tion between  material  and  formal  idolatry  is  affirmed, 
and  is  also  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  some  Lutheran 
theologians,  particularly  the  elder  and  younger  Calixtus." 
At  Regensburg,  also,  a  small  tract  was  circulated,  on 
material  and  formal  idolatry ;  the  author  of  it,  probably 
a  layman,  pushes  the  matter  still  farther,  and  takes  a 
loftier  and  more  earnest  view  of  it.  He  is  of  the  opinion, 
that  all  who  were  saved  in  the  Romish  Church  before 
the  Reformation,  notwithstanding  they  believed  the 
transubstantiation  of  the  wafer,  and  worshipped  it  on 
this  ground,  were  not  idolaters.  In  this  connection,  he 
observes,  that  in  all  conditions  of  peace  and  decrees  of 
the  empire,  all  opprobrious  epithets,  abuse,  and  denun- 
ciation of  the  persons  of  those  who  are  of  a  different 
religious  persuasion,  was  most  strictly  forbidden,  but 
that  no  abuse  can  be  more  gross  than  to  represent  any 
one  as  an  idolater.  Finally,  he  draws  this  conclusion, 
that  in  order  to  regard  a  Catholic  as  an  idolater,  some- 
thing more  is  requisite  than  to  believe  transubstantia- 
tion, to  assist  at  the  Mass,  or  to  read  it,  which  is  com- 
mon to  all  Catholics;  therefore,  a  distinction  must  be 
made  between  idolatry  in  the  abstract,  and  idolatry  in 
the  concrete,  or  between  general  idolatry  and  special; 
or  between  idolatry  in  itself  considered,  and  an  actual 
idolater  and  a  worshipper  of  images!  .The  learned  men 
who  mark  the  course  of  these  disputes,  append  some 
one  thing,  others  another.  They  reject  the  distinction 
between  material  and  formal  idolatry,  with  which  the 
Syncretists  are  accustomed  to  help  themselves,  and  jus- 
tify, on  the  other  hand,  th^t.  between  idolatry  in  the 
abstract  and  idolatry  in  the  concrete,  which  the  author 
of  the  Regensburg  treatise  had  confounded  with  the 
other;  only,  this  distinction  ijiiust  be  used  in  a  right 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  75 

way,  and  prudently.  The  main  point  depends  always 
upon  its  special  application  to  this  person,  or  the  other, 
in  which  Christian  wisdom  and  modesty  should  always 
act  prudently,  and,  except  in  a  case  of  reproof,  or  in 
representing  the  soul's  peril,  abstain  most  tenderly  from 
judging  and  condemning. 

After  various  imperial  rescripts,  a  manifesto  is  pro- 
mulged  by  the  Emperor,  addressed  to  the  Elector  Charles 
Philip,  by  virtue  of  which  all  changes  in  matters  of 
religion,  adopted  subsequently  to  the  conditions  of  peace 
agreed  upon  at  Baden,  shall  be  done  away  with  within 
four  months.  This  regulation,  instead  of  deciding 
everything,  gives  occasion  to  the  contending  parties  to 
raise  new  questions  of  dispute.  The  Elector  Charles 
Philip  appoints  a  mixed  religious  commission,  which  is 
to  abrogate  all  changes  introduced  since  the  stipulations 
of  the  treaty  of  Baden.  The  Evangelical  States  regard 
the  measures  adopted  by  the  Elector  as  unsatisfactory, 
and  send  an  envoy  to  the  Court  of  the  Elector,  in  the 
person  of  John  Von  der  Reck,  a  member  of  the  Elector 
of  Hanover's  Council.  The  commission,  on  religious 
matters,  makes,  as  usual,  but  slow  progress.  The  Elec- 
tor issues  strict  and  repeated  orders  to  the  commission 
and  the  magistrates,  respecting  the  abrogation  of  these 
grievances,  and  an  earnest  rescript,  enforcing  obedience, 
is  sent  from  the  Court  of  the  Emperor.  John  Von 
Reck  publishes  a  book  which  occasions  uncommon 
sensation.  It  is  entitled:  "The  Incompleteness  of  the 
restoration  of  the .  stipulations  of  the  Baden  Treaty, 
respecting  religious  matters  in  the  Palatinate."  The 
Elector  changed  the^membership  of  the  commission  by 
substituting  other  persons.  The  new  coipmissioners 
were,  however,  hampered  by  the  injunction,  not  to  enter 
into  any  inquiry  respecting  the  church  property  and 
revenues,  of  which  the  Reformed  had  been  deprived 


76  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

since  the  declaration  settling  the  religious  condition  of 
the  country,  but  only  to  make  the  changes  which  had 
been  introduced  since  the  peace  of  Baden,  a  subject  of 
investigation.  With  this  limitation,  it  was,  of  course, 
impossible  to  remove  the  source  of  these  protracted  dis- 
putes. John  Von  Reck  endeavoured  to  allay  the  ani- 
mosity between  the  two  evangelical  churches  of  the 
Palatinate,  by  conciliatory  propositions.  The  efforts  of 
the  Commission  on  religious  affairs,  were  gradually  sus- 
pended. The  Emperor  Charles  VI.  proposed,  June  11, 
1727,  a  compromise  respecting  the  question  of  property; 
but  this  also  was  without  result;  the  external  condition 
of  the  Protestants  in  the  Rhenish  Palatinate  remained 
much  as  it  had  been.  The  originating  cause  of  the 
disputes  was  not  touched;  but  opinions  began  to  be 
more  moderate.  The  gentle  spirit  of  toleration  gained, 
although  gradually,  more  and  more  scope. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  edited  and  published 
in  the  Palatinate,  we  might  almost  say,  times  without 
number.  In  the  first  year  of  its  existence,  1563,  it  was 
issued  three  times  by  one  publisher,  John  Mayer,  at 
Heidelberg.  In  every  succeeding  year,  new  editions 
appeared.  Neustadt,  Amberg,  Manheim,  furnished  re- 
peated publications  of  it.  The  editions  were  indeed 
different;  the  form,  the  quality,  the  language,  the  sup- 
plements, and  appendices  varied.  In  the  oldest  edi- 
tions the  common  division  into  Lord'^  Days  is  wanting; 
this  is  first  seen  in  the  Heidelberg  edition  of  1573.  In 
the  first  edition,  questions  and  answers  succeed  one 
another  without  being  numbered,  and  the  proof-texts 
are  marked  in  the  margin.  In  some  issues,  the  pas- 
sages of  Scripture  are  more  copiously  adduced,  and 
there  is  a  more  exact  index  of  the  Scripture  texts  which 
are  cited  as  probfs.  Some  ^  are  supplied  with  various 
remarks  in  the  margin,  or  under  the  text.     The  80th 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  7*7 

question  is  altered  in  some  editions,  and  in  the  first 
edition,  for  what  reason  is  not  known,  it  is  omitted; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  preface  of  the  Elector,  which 
we  liave  given,  is  inserted  in  the  first  editions.  The 
common  title  is:  "Catechism,  or  Christian  Instruction 
as  taught  in  the  Churches  and  Schools  of  the  Palati- 
nate." 

In  addition  to  its  distinct  publication,  the  Catechism 
was  appended  to  other  books;  e.  g.^  to  various  editions 
of  the  Bible,  to  hymn-books,  and  church  liturgies. 
Extracts  were  also  published.  A  short  summary,  making 
three  or  four  pages  in  small  print,  and  consisting  of 
only  twenty- two  questions,  is  also  found  in  some  issues 
of  the  Catechism  at  Heidelberg,  in  1601.  The  revised 
Church  Liturgy  of  the  Palatinate,  Heidelberg,  1585, 
contains  the  abbreviated  catechism.  The  preface  which 
is  affixed  to  the  smaller  catechism,  explains  its  nature 
and  design;  this  was  not  to  supersede  the  larger  one, 
but  only  for  the  benefit  of  common  and  uneducated 
people  and  children,  for  whom  some  answers  of  the 
larger  Catechism  were  too  long  and  difficult  to  present 
the  most  important  and  necessary  articles  of  Christian 
faith  in  a  simple  and  regular  form. 

Many  learned  men  did  good  service  in  editing  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.  Almost  every  year,  larger  or 
smaller  works  on  it  were  published. 

Balthasar  Corius  is  everywhere  known.  He  pub- 
lished 54  sermons  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  Xeu- 
stadt,  1588.  In  the  same  year,  a  translation  of  it 
appeared  at  Amsterdam. 

QuiRiNius  Peuteb-  published,  in  Latin,  an  Explana- 
tion of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  with  critical  remarks 
of  some  divines.     Heidelberg,  1585. 

Tobias  Fabricius  wrote :  "  Explanation  of  the  Cate- 
chism of  the  Palatinate.     Neustadt,  1586,  1596." 


78  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

George  Spindler  published:  "Fifty-two  Sermons  on 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  in  which  the  main  points  of 
Christian  doctrine,  and  the  substance  of  the  whole  Scrip- 
ture are  accurately  and  briefly  discussed.  Together 
with  an  Examen,  etc.     Amberg,  1597,  1607." 

John  Philip  Pareus  wrote  a  Latin  analysis  and  exe- 
gesis of  the  Catechism  of  the  Palatinate.  Neustadt, 
1615. 

Well  known  is  George  Mieg's  godly  Exposition  in 
57  sermons,  1746.  This  book  has  been  extensively  used 
in  many  Reformed  churches  and  families,  as  a  collection 
of  homilies  for  edification. 

''The  Doctrine  of  Truth  unto  Salvation,  of  the  Evan- 
gelical Reformed  Church,  or  compend  of  instruction  for 
children  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  for  the  benefit 
of  all  inquiring  souls,  and  especially  for  the  training  of 
the  dear  youth,  explained  by  the  text-language  of  the 
Catechism,  and  confirmed  with  passages  from  Holy 
Scripture,  together  with  grounds  of  faith,  for  confirmands 
who  are  coming  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  with  approba- 
tion of  the  Universities  at  Herborn  and  Heidelberg. 
Heidelberg  and  Herborn,  1748." 

In  conclusion,  another  old  volume  may  be  cited, 
which  is  regarded  by  many  as  a  precious  treasure: 
"Short  and  Simple  Statement,  1.  Of  the  great  sorrow 
and  misery  of  the  whole  human  race;  2.  How  mankind 
may  be  delivered  from  this  njisery  and  be  saved;  3.  Of 
the  ofiice  of  Christians,  how  they  shall  demean  them- 
selves in  their  life,  towards  God  and  their  neighbour, 
and  be  grateful  to  God  for  such  deliverance,  through 
Jesus  Christ.  Together  with  ample  explanation  of  these 
points.  All  included  in  questions  and  answers,  and 
confirmed  with  testimonies  adduced  from  the  Divine 
word;  by  Melchior  Angerus.     Heidelberg,  1593." 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  79 


ADOPTION  OF  THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM  IN  THE 
COUNTRIES  BEYOND  THE  PALATINATE. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  produced  a  sensation,  not 
only  in   its   native   home,  the  Palatinate,  but   in   all 
European  countries.     It  was  translated  into  most*  of 
the  languages  of  the  known  world,  into  dead  as  well  as 
living  languages.      In  all  Reformed  Churches  it  was 
received  with  the  warmest  enthusiasm  and  the  highest 
reo-ard.     It  was  honoured  as    no  book  ever  has  been, 
except  the  Bible.     It  was  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a 
symbol,  or  acknowledged  exponent  of  the  faith  of  the 
Eeformed  Church.     The   foundation    of  all   this  was, 
doubtless,  laid  in  the  Palatinate,  where  it  originated. 
The  Preface,  which  the  Elector  Frederic  III.  prefixed 
to  the  first  edition,  and  which  was  also  in  fact,  a  com- 
mand, obliging  all  pastors  and  schoolmasters  to  intro- 
duce it,  procured  its  adoption  every  where  in  the  Pala- 
tinate.    By  virtue  of  this  electoral  mandate,  the  new 
Catechism  was  every  where  introduced,  and  all  preach- 
ers who  refused  to  accept  it  were  dismissed  from  ser- 
vice.    It  was    made  a   duty  to    explain  it  in   public 
sermons,  and  Zachariah  Ursinus  was  directed  to  deliver 
public  lectures  npon  it,  in  the  College  at  Heidelberg, 
throughout  the  whole  year,  without   interruption,   in 
order  by  this  means  to  aid  the  future  teachers  in  its 
explanation.     This   order,  however,   had   no   force   in 
other  countries.     The  nature  of  the  Catechism  must, 
therefore,  have  effeCfed  this  respect  and  general  adop- 
tion.    In  no  Catechism  were   the   doctrinal   views  of 
Zwingli  and  Calvin  so   clearly  expressed  as  in  it;  in 


*  Von  Alpen  says,  '^all." 


80  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

none  of  its  congeners  were  the  beautiful,  the  strong, 
and  the  practical  presented,  as  they  are  found  in  every 
question  and  answer  in  this  Catechism ;  in  none  were 
the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the  Keformed  faith  more 
accurately  defined.  The  borders  of  the  Palatinate  were 
too  narrow  to  confine  this  book  exclusively  to  their 
own  limits.  It  was  relished  in  all  other  countries. 
Although  the  Swiss  Reformed  Churches  have  various 
other  catechisms,  the  Heidelberg  was  more  highly 
esteemed  in  most  of  them.  In  St.  Gall  it  was  intro- 
duced, and  when  an  alteration  or  amendment  of  the 
Catechism  of  Zurich  was  attempted,  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  was  so  carefully  consulted  and  used,  that  a 
remarkable  similarity  and  agreement  have  been  percep- 
tible from  that  time.  Throughout  all  Germany  all 
Keformed  Churches  adopted  it  as  their  symbolical  book 
and  the  exponent  of  their  faith.  The  public  confessions 
of  faith  of  distinguished  persons  were  prepared  and 
arranged  according  to  its  substance.  When  the  build- 
ing of  the  Reformed  Church  was  -undertaken  at  Berlin, 
a  quarto  Bible  in  Hebrew  print,  and  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  both  bound  in  black,  and  with  large  gold 
clasps,  were  deposited  and  well  secured  in  the  corner- 
stone, with  other  costly  memorials.  In  the  remote 
kiugdom  of  Hungary,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was 
introduced  soon  after  its  appearance,  translated  into  the 
language  of  the  country,  and  read  and  explained  to  the 
children  in  the  schools.  Preachers  and  schoolmasters, 
and  even  students  who  were  going  to  the  Universities, 
were  bound,  in  some  instances,  by  an  oath,  to  adhere 
with  cordial  fidelity  to  the  doctrines  of  Scripture  con- 
tained in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  to  teach  and 
disseminate  the  same  in  (Churches  and  schools,  in  all 
sincerity  and^  without   any^  defalcation.      A  law  was 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  81 

enacted,  that  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  should  always 
be  maintained  and  taught. 

In  no  country,  however,  was  more  honour  shown  to 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism  than  in  the  United  Nether- 
lands. Here  it  was  not  only,  at  a  very  early  period, 
appointed  and  used  for  the  instruction  of  children  and 
the  common  people,  but  was  also  publicly  expounded  in 
sermons.  Here  it  subsequently  attained  the  high  dis- 
tinction of  a  general  and  formal  symbol  of  the  Reformed 
Church.  No  one  could  become  preacher,  schoolmaster, 
magistrate,  or  member  in  the  Reformicd  Church,  with- 
out swearing  to  adhere  to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 
In  the  dreariest  periods  of  the  persecutions,  Peter 
Gabriel  expounded  the  Catechism  at  Amsterdam,  and 
comforted  and  strengthened  the  oppressed  Christians 
with  its  teachings ;  but  the  foundation  of  its  adoption 
was  chiefly  laid  in  an  assembly  at  Wesel,  1568,  of  the 
Churches  of  the  Netherlands,  who  had  been  driven  from 
their  native  country,  and  lived,  scattered,  here  and 
there.  At  this  meeting  it  was  ordered,  that  in  the 
French  Churches  of  the  Netherlands  the  Genevan 
Catechism  should  be  used,  and  the  Heidelberg  in  the 
German  Churches.  The  full  adoption  followed  at  a 
National  Synod  of  the  Netherland,  German,  and  French 
Churches,  native  and  foreign,  at  Dordrecht,  1574.  As 
early  as  the  year  1576,  the  sermons  were  appointed  in 
a  Schedule  of  certain  church  laws,  by  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  as  Stadtholder,  and  the  States  of  Holland  and 
AYest  Friesland.  The  influence  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  was  still  further  enhanced  in  1586,  by  the 
insertion  of  this  rul^.in  the  Church  order — that  minis- 
ters of  the  word,  professors  of  theology,  and  school- 
masters, shall  affix  their  signatures  to  the  Confession  of 
Faith  of  the  Church  of  the  Netherlands,  i.  e.^  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  confirm  the  same  with  an 


82  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE   OF 

oath.  The  great  National  Synod  at  Dordrecht,  1618 
and  1619,  ordered  three  formulas  to  be  prepared  for 
this  purpose;  one  for  Professors  of  Theology  at  acade- 
mies and  gymnasia,  also  for  the  regents  and  sub-regents 
of  theological  colleges;  another  for  ministers  of  the 
sacred  word;  and  a  third  for  rectors,  schoolmasters,  and 
visitors  of  the  sick,  which  they  were  required  to  sub- 
scribe. The  highest  position  of  honour  and  regard 
which  can  be  conferred  on  a  book,  was  attained  by  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  at  this  same  Synod.  The  divines 
of  all  the  Reformed  Churches  in  Europe,  who  were 
invited  and  present  at  its  sessions,  examined  the  Cate- 
chism with  all  carefulness,  approved  it  in  all  its  doc- 
trines, extolled  it  with  high  encomiums,  and  declared  it 
a  symbolical  book.  Thus  the  Catechism  was,  by  this 
Synod,  in  behalf  not  only  of  Holland,  but  of  all  Re- 
formed Churches,  declared  to  be  the  only  symbolical 
book,  without  whose  acceptance,  no  one  could  be  recog- 
nised as  a  Reformed  Christian. 

Jerome  Van  Alphen,  one  of  the 'most  eminent  divines 
who  have  written  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  says, 
with  justice,  respecting  it:  "It  is  regarded  as  a  sym- 
bolical book,  not  only  in  the  Palatinate,  but  throughout 
all  Germany  also,  in  all  Switzerland,  and  in  all  the  Belgic 
Churches,  any  one  who  departs  from  it,  and  teaches 
anything  contrary  to  it,  can  no  longer  be  considered  a 
member  of  this  communion."  According  to  the 
slanders  of  the  Arminians,  or  Remonstrants,  the  contra- 
remonstrants  confessed  publicly,  "  that  in  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  the  most  complete  divine  doctrine  was 
contained,  to  be  found  in  a  compend;'''  that  ''holy 
Scripture  was  a  rule  and  guide  of  doctrine,  in  so  far  as  it 
is  explained  according  to  the  view  presented  in  the  Cate- 
chism." "  The  Catechism  was  a  form  of  purity  in  doc- 
trine and  agreement  with  the  same,  in  which  nothing 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  83 

may  either  be  changed,  or  anything  contrary  to  it  be 
tauo-ht."  "Holy  Scripture  must  be  interpreted  accord- 
ing to  the  direction  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism." 
"  The  Catechism  is  a  little  Bible,  yea,  the  marrow  of 
the  Bible,  and  written  by  Divine  inspiration."  "We 
must  live  and  die  by  the  Catechism,  as  tlie  second  rule 
and  guide  of  our  faith." 

In  their  contra-remonstrance,  addressed  to  the  States 
of  Holland  and  West  Friesland,  all  the  ministers  of  the 
United  Netherlands  declare:  "The  Palatinate  Cate- 
chism is  NOT  to  be  held  in  equal  honour  with  the  Divine 
word,  nor  to  be  regarded  like  papal  mandates  and 
decrees;  but  it  was  written  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and 
for  the  unity  of  the  Church  against  sects."  They  stated 
this  same  thing  to  the  Arminians  themselves.  Jacob 
Trigland  gives  the  following  testimony  concerning  this 
Catechism.  "The  orthodox  regard  their  Confession, 
not  as  a  rule  of  faith,  or  norm,  according  to  which  a 
man's  orthodoxy  or  heterodoxy  shall  be  judged;  for 
this  purpose  they  hold  only  the  Divine  word,  which  is 
contained  in  the  writings  of  the  apostles  and  prophets; 
but  their  Confession,  together  with  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  they  do  hold  as  the  rule  of  judging  whether 
any  one  adheres  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  and  whether  he  can  and  may  be  recognised  as  a 
teacher  in  any  one  of  the  Belgian  churches."  Theodore 
Strack  declares:  "Not  one  of  us  puts  the  Catechism  in 
equal  regard  with  the  word  of  God.  We  hold,  with 
Augustine,  that  those  holy  Scriptures  which  are  called 
canonical  are  alone  divine,  and  that  their  authors  are 
alone  free  from  all- .error."  Lenfant  expresses  himself 
the  most  briefly  and  forcibly  of  all.  "Besides,  we  must 
ever  remember,  that  although  Calvin's  Catechism,  and 
the  Heidelberg,  and  all  others  which  contain  the  same 


84  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

doctrines,  are  excellent  works,  they  are,  after  all,  the 
work  of  man,  and  that  they  are  to  be  held  only  con- 
ditionally, as  formulas  of  faith,  or  symbolical  books,  or 
in  so  far  as  they  agree  with  sacred  Scripture,  which  is 
the  only  infallible  rule,  by  which  every  work  upon 
religion  must  be  judged."  The  great  Bullinger  wrote 
to  a  friend:  "I  have  read  the  Palatinate  Elector 
Frederic's  Catechism  with  the  greatest  avidity,  and 
while  reading  it,  I  have  thanked  God,  who  establishes 
the  work  which  he  begins.  The  order  of  the  book  is 
clear;  the  contents  are  true,  and  beautiful,  and  good; 
all  about  it  is  lucid,  fruitful,  and  pious;  with  great 
brevity,  it  comprehends  very  many  and  great  subjects. 
It  is  my  opinion,  that  no  better  catechism  has  been 
published." 

Jacob  Hettinger  calls  it  a  complete  system  of  sound 
theology,  which  had  been  adopted,  not  only  in  Ger- 
many, but  also  in  Belgium,  Hungary,  and  Switzerland; 
a  wall  and  breastwork  against  the  attacks  of  strange 
opinions. 

The  Hessian  theologians,  whose  judgment  Parens 
quotes,  in  order  to  illustrate  the  excellence  of  the  Cate- 
chism, gave  it  as  their  opinion,  "that  a  catechism  could 
not  be  furnished  which  could  be  more  thoroughly  or 
completely  adapted  to  the  capacity  both  of  adults  and 
of  children."  Even  Lutherans  were  constrained  to  do 
justice  to  the  Catechism.  L,udolph  Bentheim,  among 
others,  says:  "If  I  except  the  doctrine  of  Calvin  which 
is  contained  in  it,  I  must  admit  that  the  Reformed  have 
some  reason  to  be  proud  of  it;  as  Ursinus,  in  all  his 
other  writings,  excels  almost  all  other  theologians,  in 
the  preparation  of  the  Catechism  he  has  surpassed  him- 
self. The  method,  according  to  the  three  divisions,  is 
adapted  to   the  subject;    the '  questions    are   well  con- 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  85 

ceived,  and  plainly  answered;  the  texts  of  sacred  Scrip- 
ture marked  as  proofs,  are  select,  and  the  order,  accord- 
ing to  the  Lord's  days  of  the  year,  is  edifying."  The 
opinions  of  Church  Councillor  Walch,  and  of  Miller, 
the  great  catechist,  are  equally  favourable.  Some 
Hollanders,  in  their  excessive  enthusiasm,  cannot  find 
language  or  words  enough  to  set  forth  the  excellence 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  translated  into  all 
possible  languages.  There  are  translations  in  Latin, 
Greek,  Dutch,  Spanish,  French,  English,  Italian,  Bohe- 
mian, Polish,  Hungarian,  Hebrew,  Arabic,  Malay,  and 
Singalese.  Henry  Alting  makes  elaborate  mention  of 
them  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Heidelberg  Theological 
Authors.  Frederic  Sylberg  prepared  a  Greek  transla- 
tion, which  was  sent  to  the  Patriarch  at  Constantinople. 
By  the  order,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  States  General, 
another  Greek  translation  was  prepared  for  the  use  of 
the  Greek  Christians.  The  States  General  in  Belgium 
also  procured  its  translation  into  the  Spanish  language, 
so  that  it  might  be  used  in  the  West  Indies. 

The  Heidelberg  Catechism  has  been  illustrated  by 
countless  commentaries,  written  in  German,  Latin,  and 
other  languages.  Men  of  the  greatest  learning  occupied 
themselves  with  it.  Some  reduced  it  to  verses  and 
rhymes;  others  explained  it  in  sermons,  paraphrases, 
and  summaries;  others  laid  it  down  as  the  basis  of 
entire  systems  and  courses  of  theological  lectures.  The 
history  and  adoption  of  this  Catechism  in  different 
countries  is  so  remarkable,  that  it  deserves  to  be  made 
everywhere  a  subjet!t  of  particular  investigation. 


86  HISTORY   AND    LITERATUEE   OF 


ADOPTION  OF  THE   HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM  IN  THE 
NETHERLANDS. 

Ix  no  country  was  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  more 
warmly  welcomed,  than  in  the  Netherlands.  It  was 
read  with  absorbing  interest ;  and  was  more  extensively 
circulated  and  expounded,  than  in  any  other  land. 
Here,  too,  it  was  exalted  to  the  highest  place  of  respect, 
by  its  recognition  as  a  symbolical  book.  The  reasons 
for  this,  are  to  be  found  partly  in  the  prepossession  of 
the  Netherlanders  for  the  Germans.  To  a  German 
they  were  indebted  for  their  national  existence  and 
deliverance,  and  how  then  can  we  find  fault  with  them 
for  loving  that  which  came  to  them  from  Germany'? 
This  regard  for  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  is  to  be 
traced,  also,  to  the  want  of  catechisms  of  their  own,  and 
to  the  earnestness  with  which  they  watched  over  the 
new  doctrine.  It  will  repay  us  to  inquire  more  closely 
into  these  reasons. 

The  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands  is,  beyond  dis- 
pute, the  most  brilliant  and  remarkable  of  all.  The 
fabric  of  the  hierarchy  was  overturned  by  a  glorious 
revolution,  and  the  new  doctrine  was  exalted  and 
triumphed,  with  one  grand  effort,  over  the  outstretched 
arm  of  despotism  and  the  most  dreadful  devices  of  papal 
tyranny.  The  new  doctrine,  which  Luther  dissemi- 
nated in  Germany,  and.  Calvin  in  Switzerland,  soon 
made  its  way  into  Holland,  and  there  found  a  most 
favourable  soil.  The  first  germs  were  cast  into  the 
Netherlands  by  the  Protestant  merchants,  who  came  in 
large  numbers  to  Amsterdam  and  Antweiii.  The  Ger- 
man and  Swiss  troops,  who  had  been  led  into  these 
countries,  and  the  va^tnumbe^*  of  French,  German,  and 


THE    HEIDELBEKG    CATECHISM.  87 

English  refugees,  who  had  fled  from  the  sword  of  perse- 
cution in  their  native  country,  here  sought  a  city  of 
refuge,  and  promoted  the  spread  of  the  Reformation. 
A  considerable  portion  of  the  Holland  nobility  pursued 
their  studies,  at  that  time,  in  Geneva.  The  new  ideas 
respecting  religion,  which  were  there  publicly  taught, 
were  brought  back  by  the  young  students  into  their 
fatherland.  Here  the  germ  was  silently  developed; 
everywhere  it  found  encouragement;  it  could  not  be 
otherwise,  in  a  country  in  which  industry  was  the  most 
cherished  virtue,  and  beggary,  the  most  disgraceful  vice, 
and  where  monkery,  as  an  order  of  idleness,  had  long 
been  regarded  as  a  nuisance.  The  new  religion,  which 
w^as  zealous  against  it,  had  public  opinion  on  its  side. 
Pamphlets,  full  of  bitterness  and  satire,  to  which  the 
newly-invented  art  of  printing  gave  a  wide  circulation 
in  this  country,  and  numbers  of  public  speakers,  who, 
at  that  time,  itinerated  in  these  provinces,  and  ridiculed 
the  abuses  of  the  times  in  theatrical  representations,  or 
songs,  assisted  in  destroying  all  respect  for  the  Romish 
Church,  and  paved  the  way,  in  the  minds  of  the  people, 
for  a  favourable  reception  of  the  new  doctrines.  Its 
first  steps  were  amazingly  swift;  the  number  of  those 
who,  in  a  short  period,  declared  themselves  for  the  new 
religion,  was  prodigious.  This  revolution,  in  matters 
of  faith,  necessarily  produced  great  sensation.  The 
Romish  Court  observed  it  with  alarm,  and  already  in- 
structed by  the  German  Reformation,  that  it  could  not 
be  put  down  by  the  thunders  of  excommunication, 
meditated  more  potent  measures.  Enraged  with  hatred 
and  envy,  tremblisg  for  their  influence  and  their  reve- 
nues, and  blinded '  by  a  bloody  superstition,  they  deter- 
mined to  ofler  a  terrible  sacrifice  to  tiieir  cruelty,  and 
applied  to  the  sovereign  of  the  country. 

The   Xetherlands   were   then   in    the   possession   of 


88  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Charles  V.  He  was,  without  doubt,  the  first  and  the 
mightiest  in  all  Europe;  Emperor  of  Germany,  Lord  of 
Spain,  of  the  New  world,  of  the  Netherlands,  King  of 
Naples,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia.  No  State  ventured  to 
meet  him  on  the  battle-field.  France,  his  most  danger- 
ous neighbour,  exhausted  by  a  severe  war,  and  still 
more,  by  internal  dissensions,  which  arose  under  a  child- 
ish government,  was  already,  with  rapid  steps,  hasten- 
ing towards  the  unhappy  epoch  which,  for  nearly  half  a 
century,  made  it  the  theatre  of  abomination  and  misery. 
The  throne  of  England  was  tottering  amid  the  storms 
of  violent  party  strife.  The  monarchies  of  the  North 
still  lay  in  barbarous  night,  or  were  just  beginning  to 
assume  shape,  and  the  diplomacy  of  Europe  did  not 
recognise  them.  The  ablest  generals,  numerous  ar- 
mies, accustomed  to  victory,  a  formidable  navy,  and  the 
rich,  golden  tribute  from  the  West  Indies,  were  the 
strong  instruments  by  means  of  which  Charles  was 
enabled  to  carry  out  his  plans.  Provoked  by  the  power- 
ful resistance  with  which  the  German  princes  had  com- 
pelled him  to  secure  the  free  exercise  of  the  new  reli- 
gion in  Germany,  he  issued  the  most  cruel  edicts  against 
the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands.  The  reading  of 
the  Gospels  and  Epistles,  all  public,  or  private  assem- 
blies, with  which  the  name  of  religion  was  in  any  way 
connected,  all  conversations  on  this  subject,  at  home 
and  at  the  table,"  were  forbidden  with,  the  utmost  se- 
verity, in  these  edicts.  In  all  provinces  of  the  land, 
special  tribunals  were  appointed  to  take  cognizance  of 
the  fulfilment  of  the  edicts.  Whoever  cherished  erro- 
neous opinions,  was  deprived  of  his  oifice,  without  re- 
spect to  rank.  Whoever  should  be  convicted  of  spread- 
ing heretical  doctrines,  or  ,of  having  merely  attended 
the  secret  conventicles  of  these  reformers  of  the  faith, 
was  condemned  to  suffer  death— all  male  persons  to  be 


THE    HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  89 

executed  with  the  sword — women  to  be  buried  aUve. 
Lapsed  heretics  were  to  be  delivered  to  the  flames. 
These  terrible  judgments  could  not  be  removed,  even 
by  the  repentance  of  the  offender.  The  property  of  the 
condemned  was  confiscated.  The  first  two  Reformers, 
Henry  Voes  and  John  Esche,  were  burned  at  Brussels, 
1523. 

This  fury  went  to  still  greater  excesses.  Charles  Y., 
emboldened  by  the  success  of  his  arms  in  Germany, 
believed  that  he  might  now  venture  any  thing,  and  was 
earnestly  meditating  the  establishment  of  the  Spanish 
Inquisition  in  the  Netherlands.  This  Spanish  Inqui- 
sition was  an  institution  sui  generis,  which  in  the 
whole  range  of  things  temporal,  has  no  representative, 
and  can  be  compared  to  no  spiritual  or  secular  tribunal. 
There  was  always  inquisition,  ever  since  there  have 
been  doubters  and  innovators ;  but  it  was  only  about  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  after  some  examples 
of  defection  had  alarmed  the  hierarchy,  that  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.  erected  for  it  a  judgment-throne  of  its  own, 
and  united  in  an  unnatural  manner  spiritual  supervision 
with  the  power  to  punish.  To  be  all  the  more  sure 
that  no  human  sympathy  and  no  shrinking  of  nature 
should  enervate  the  severity  of  its  statutes,  he  withdrew 
it  from  the  bishops  and  the  secular  priests,  who  were 
too  closely  related  to  humanity  by  the  bonds  of  civil 
life,  that  he  might  entrust  it  to  monks,  who  had  fore- 
sworn the  holy  impulses  of  humanity,  and  who  were 
monsters  of  the  human  name,  and  willing  creatures  of 
the  Homan  Pontiff.  •  Germany,  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  France,  received* them;  a  Franciscan  monk  sat  in 
judgment  at  the  terrible  sentence  passed  aii  the  Tem- 
plars ;  a  few  States  succeeded  in  excluding  the  Inquisi- 
tion, or  in  subjecting  it  to  the  secular  power.  Up  to 
the  period  of  Charles  Y.'s  reign,  the  Netherlands  had 


90  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

been  free  from  this  scourge;  their  bishops  exercised 
spiritual  censorship,  and,  in  extraordinary  cases,  it  was 
the  custom  to  appeal  to  foreign  tribunals  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion— the  French  provinces  to  Paris,  and  the  German  to 
Cologne;  but  the  Inquisition  which  Charles  wished  to 
establish,  was  the  most  terrible  of  all ;  it  came  from  the 
west  of  Europe,  and  had  the  following  origin  and  form. 
The  last  Moorish  throne  had  fallen  in  Grenada  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  the  worship  of  the  Saracens  had 
vanished  before  the  overwhelming  power  of  the  Papists, 
but  the  gospel  (!)  was  as  yet  not  established  in  this 
youngest  of  the  Christian  kingdoms,  and  in  the  dark 
commingling  of  dissimilar  laws  and  customs,  the  reli- 
gions had  not  become,  as  yet,  distinct.  True,  the  sword 
of  persecution  had  driven  many  thousand  families  into 
Africa,  but  a  far  greater  portion,  rivettecl  to  their  homes 
by  their  love  of  locality,  purchased  exemption  from 
this  terrible  fate  by  the  farce  of  a  simulated  conversion, 
and  continued  to  serve  their  Mahomet  and  Moses  at  the 
altars  of  Rome.  So  long  as  Grenada  directed  its  pray- 
ers towards  Mecca,  it  was  not  subdued,  and  so  long  as 
the  new  convert  in  the  privacy  of  his  home,  was  a  Jew, 
or  a  Mussulman,  he  was  secured  no  more  to  the  throne 
than  to  the  See  of  Rome.  Now,  it  was  determined  to 
bring  this  stubborn  people  into  complete  subjection,  to 
clash  in  pieces  the  entire  old  faith  and  the  whole  form 
of  the  moral  character,  in  order  to  convert  it  wholly  to 
the  Catholic  religion.  For  this  purpose  the  Inquisition 
was  invented,  which,  in  order  to  distinguish  it  from 
human  tribunals,  is  known  as  the  Spanish  Inquisition. 
Cardinal  Ximenes  was  its  founder.  A  Dominican 
monk,  Torquemada,  first  opened  this  terrible  hall  of 
judgment,  instituted  its  statutes,  and  earned  the  eternal 
curse  of  manlrind  for  the  Order,  which  he  represented. 
This  tool  of  despotic  and  hierarchical  oppression  soon 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  91 

became  the  instrument  of  covetousness.  The  enormous 
sums  which  fell  into  the  royal  treasury  throui^h  the 
confiscation  of  property,  presented  a  fearful  temptation 
to  Ferdinand,  at  that  time  king  of  Spain.  The  Inqui- 
sition put  into  his  hand  the  key  to  all  the  wealth  of 
his  subjects,  as  it  w^as  the  organ  of  his  power  and  the 
strong  chain  by  which  he  held  the  mighty  fast.  The 
tribunal  stood  terribly  firm,  because  it  was  sustained  by 
the  united  force  of  the  two  most  powerful  passions.  Its 
origin  was  fearful,  and  such  too  were  its  form  and  its 
purpose.  The  great  aim  of  this  institution  was,  to 
reduce  reason  into  subjection  to  a  blind  faith,  and 
to  destroy  freedom  of  spirit  by  a  dead  uniformity. 
The  implements  for  these  objects  were  terror  and  in- 
famy. "Whoever  dissented  in  the  least  from  the  common 
Romish  faith;  whoever  ventured  the  least  doubt  against 
the  established  formularies  and  infallibility  of  the  Pope ; 
whoever  entered  upon  investigations  in  relation  either 
to  religion  or  religious  usages,  was  a  victim  of  the 
Inquisition.  Its  spies  and  listeners  were  sent  every 
where;  availed  themselves  of  the  holiest  impulses  of 
nature,  even  friendship  and  wedded  love,  in  order  to 
pry  into  the  thoughts  of  individuals,  and  spread  its 
snares  around  every  joy  of  life.  Where  its  spies  could 
not  penetrate,  it  secured  its  hold  upon  consciences  by 
means  of  terror,  and  diffused  a  gloomy  belief  in  its 
omnipresence  over  all  the  depths  of  the  soul.  Whoever 
was  suspected  of  heresy,  or  whoever  from  motives  of 
calumny,  hatred,  .  enmity,  treachery,  or  malice,  was 
accused  as  a  heretic,  was  pursued  by  the  Inquisition. 
In  the  dread  hou^*T)f  midnight,  the  horrid  rumbling 
of  the  carriage  of  tKe  Inquisition  was  heard^  as  it  rolled 
to  the  heretic's  door.  No  one  dared  approach  it.  The 
victim  was  snatched  away  from  the  side  of  his  best 
beloved,  and  hidden  for  ever  from  the  sight  of  his  friends. 


92  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Tears  and  protestations  were  all  powerless  to  effect  his 
deliverance.  No  hearing  was  given,  no  investigation 
was  instituted,  no  response  or  defence  was  permitted. 
All  appeals  to  humanity,  in  the  case  of  a  heretic,  were 
laughed  to  scorn;  with  the  slightest  deflection  from 
fidelity  to  the  Church,  he  had  forfeited  the  rights  of 
human  fellowship.  The  arm  of  the  Inquisition  thrust 
him  down  into  deep  subterranean  dungeons,  until 
pressed  by  hunger  and  inhuman  tortures,  he  accused 
himself  as  a  transgressor  of  the  violated  laws  of  God 
and  man.  Then,  with  solemn  pomp,  the  transgressor 
was  led  forth  to  die.  A  blood-red  banner  waved  in  the 
van  of  the  procession,  and  all  the  bells  tolled  along  its 
route.  First  come  priests  in  the  robes  of  the  mass, 
singing  a  holy  chaunt.  The  condemned  sinner  follows, 
clothed  in  a  yellow  garment,  upon  which  dark  pictures 
of  devils  are  painted.  Upon  his  head  he  wears  a  paper 
cap,  which  tapers  at  the  top  into  the  figure  of  a  man, 
around  whom  flames  are  playing  and  horrid  demons  flit. 
The  image  of  the  crucified  Saviour  reversed  from  the 
wretch  doomed  to  eternal  damnation,  was  borne  aloft 
before  him ;  for  him  redemption  avails  no  more.  A  gag 
stops  his  mouth  and  forbids  him  to  assuage  his  anguish 
by  lamentations,  to  rouse  dead  pity  by  his  touching 
story,  or  to  blab  the  secrets  of  the  holy  office.  The 
priests,  in  festive  garb,  the  magistrates,  and  the  no- 
bility, join  the  throng;  the  fathers  who  have  adjudged 
him,  close  up  the  horrible  array.  Usually  these  execu- 
tions were  ordered  on  high  festivals,  and  a  certain  num- 
ber of  such  Unfortunates  were  gathered  from  the  prisons 
of  the  Holy  Office,  in  order  to  render  the  occasion  more 
imposing  by  the  number  of  rthe  victims,  and  then  even 
kings  were  present  at  the  scene.  These  sat  with  un- 
covered head^  oh  seats  low^er  than  the  throne  of  the 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  93 

Grand  Inquisitor,  to  whom,  on  such  days,  the  liighest 
rank  was  conceded. 

Such  was  the  terrible  and  inhuman  Spanish  Inquisi- 
tion. It  was  originally  founded  to  purify  the  small 
kingdom  of  Grenada  from  the  petty  remnant  of  the 
Saracens  and  Jews ;  now  it  was  invoked  in  order  to 
suppress  the  revolution  in  religion,  under  the  leadership 
of  Luther  and  Calvin.  All  the  Inquisitions  in  Portu- 
gal, in  Italy,  and  Germany,  assumed  the  form  of  the 
Spanish.  It  followed  Europeans  even  into  India,  and 
erected  a  horrid  tribunal  in  Goa,  whose  inhuman  proce- 
dures to  this  day,  make  men  shudder  at  the  recital. 
The  most  terrible  desolations  were  inflicted  on  the 
countries  where  it  was  established,  and  whole  provinces 
and  kingdoms  were  depopulated;  but  in  no  quarter  of 
the  world  were  its  excesses  equal  to  its  ravages  in 
Spain.  It  crushed  the  Spanish  character  into  the  dust, 
arrested  this  proud  and  spirited  nation  midway  in  its 
advancing  civilization,  banished  genius  from  beneath  a 
sky  in  which  it  was  at  home,  and  left  a  stillness  like 
that  which  rests  upon  the  grave,  in  the  spirit  of  a  people 
who  had  more  incentives  to  gladness  than  many  other 
nations. 

This  Spanish  Inquisition,  Charles,  in  all  earnest,  pro- 
posed to  set  up  in  the  Xetherlands.  The  apprehension 
of  it  was  of  itself  sufficient  to  bring  all  trade  to  a 
sudden  dead  halt  in  Antwerp  and  other  large  cities  of 
the  provinces.  The  most  prominent  foreign  merchants 
prepared  to  leave  the  country.  Nothing  was  bought  or 
sold.  Real  estate  fell  in  value,  and  trades  were  aban- 
doned. Money  w'a§,  no  longer  in  the  hands  of  the 
citizens.  The  ruin -of  the  flourishing  commercial  cities 
would  have  been  inevitable,  if  Charles  \\',  persuaded 
by  the  representations  of  the  States,  had  not  abandoned 
the    dangerous    experiment.      Charles   was    yet    wise 


94  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

enough  to  count  the  cost,  and  hold  in  check  the  insur- 
rection which  was  on  the  point  of  breaking  out  in  wild, 
ungovernable  fury.  He  relaxed  his  purpose,  recom- 
mended leniency  towards  foreign  merchants,  and 
changed  the  name "  of  the  Inquisition  for  the  milder 
designation  of  Spiritual  Censors.  Certain  priests  were 
associated  with  the  Inquisitor;  but  he  himself  was  a 
secular  officer. 

In  the  year  1530,  with  the  consent  and  approval  of 
the  States,  the  edicts  against  heretics  were  issued,  which 
were  the  foundation  of  all  subsequent  ones,  and  in 
which  express  mention  is  made  of  the  Inquisition.  In 
1550,  Charles  deemed  himself  compelled,  through  the 
rapid  increase  of  the  sects,  to  renew  these  edicts  with 
increased  severity.  Still,  the  spirit  of  this  Inquisition 
in  the  Xetherlands  was,  in  accordance  with  the  genius 
of  the  country,  more  humane  than  in  the  Spanish 
kingdoms;  and  as  yet,  no  foreigner,  and  still  less  a 
Dominican,  had  been  entrusted  with  its  administration. 
It  was,  therefore,  less  offensive,  because,  however  severe 
its  judgments,  it  appeared  less  subject  to  caprice,  and 
did  not,  like  the  Spanish  Inquisition,  shroud  itself  in 
secresy. 

During  the  reign  of  Charles  Y.,  according  to  Van 
Meter  and  Grotius,  a  hundred  thousand  persons  were 
put  to  death  by  the  executioner,  on  account  of  religion 
alone.  But  Philip,  the  son  of  Charles,  and  his  suc- 
cessor, an  ambitious,  despotic,  and  bigoted  ruler,  deter- 
mined to  put  in  execution  what  his  father,  for  wise 
reasons,  had  declined,  and  resolved  to  introduce  the 
genuine  Spanish  Inquisition  into  the  Netherlands.  He 
began  by  aggravating  the  severity  of  his  father's  regu- 
lations concerning  faith,  extending  the  po\yer  of  the 
Inquisitors  more  and  moreJ^  and  rendering  their  proce- 
dures more  arbitrary  and  independent  of  the  civil  power. 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  95 

Soon  nothing  was  wanting  to  make  the  Spanish  Inqui- 
sition complete,  except  the  name  and  the  Dominicans. 
Mere  suspicion  was  enough  to  tear  a  citizen  away  from 
the  bosom  of  his  family  and  of  public  tranquillity  ;  and 
the  weakest  evidence  was  a  justification  of  the  torture. 
Whoever  fell  into  this  abyss,  never  came  out.  All  the 
benefits  of  the  laws  were  suspended  in  his  case.  The 
maternal  care  of  justice  took  no  farther  notice  of  him. 
The  delinquent  never  learned  the  name  of  his  accuser, 
and  very  seldom  the  nature  of  his  offence.  A  rutliless 
devilish  cunning  compelled  the  unhappy  victim  to  be 
his  own  accuser,  or  in  the  torture  of  the  rack,  or 
through  weariness  of  his  long,  living  burial,  to  confess 
offences  which  he  had  never  committed,  or  were  not 
even  known  to  his  judges.  The  property  of  the  con- 
demned was  confiscated,  and  informers  were  encouraged 
by  rewards  and  assurances  of  favour.  No  privilege,  no 
civil  justice  availed  against  the  Holy  Power.  The  arm 
of  worldly  authority  could  not  protect  those  whom  the 
Inquisition  touched.  This  was  permitted  to  exercise 
no  other  duty  at  its  tribunal,  except  with  reverential 
submission  to  put  its  sentences  into  execution. 

The  effects  of  this  institution  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  unnatural  and  terrible.  All  the  temporal  pros- 
perity, even  the  life  of  the  man  of  irreproachable 
character,  were  henceforth  at  the  mercy  of  every  mis- 
creant. Every  secret  enemy,  every  envious  wretch,  was 
exposed  to  the  dangerous  temptation  of  securing  an 
invisible  and  unfailing  revenge.  There  was  no  longer 
any  safety  to  property,  or  sincerity  in  intercourse.  AH 
bonds  of  trade,  all  ;_c.laims  of  blood  and  love  were  dis- 
solved. Social  life,  was  poisoned  by  suspicious  mis- 
trust; the  dreaded  presence  of  a  spy  stified  the  glance 
in  the  eye  and  the  word  on  the  tongue.  No  one 
believed  in  the  existence  of  an  honourable  man,  and  no 


96  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

one  had  the  reputation  of  one;  good  name,  the  bond  of 
common  country,  brotherhood,  even  the  sanctity  of  an 
oath,  and  all  that  men  hold  dear,  had  depreciated  in 
value.  No  wonder  that  a  tribunal  so  unnatural  should 
have  roused  a  free  State  to  resistance!  Complaints 
were  laid  before  Philip  concerning  the  spiritual  edicts, 
the  Inquisition,  and  its  unlawful  encroachments.  Never 
more,  they  declared,  would  Hollanders  submit  to  a 
yoke,  under  which  it  might  be  that  Spaniards  w.ould 
meekly  bow,  and  if  the  attempt  was  made  to  force  it  on 
them,  they  would  rather  dare  the  worst.  But  Philip 
was  inexorable.  Rather  not  be  king  at  all,  than  reign 
over  heretics,  was  his  answer!  Margaret  of  Parma,  a 
natural  daughter  of  Charles  V.,  by  a  lady  of  the 
Netherlands,  Vangeest  by  name,  at  that  time  Stadt- 
holderess  of  the  Netherlands,  was  under  obligation  to 
see  to  the  execution  of  the  religious  edicts,  and  with 
what  zeal  she  fulfilled  it  we  may  learn  from  the  stern 
monkish  faith  which  her  preceptor,  and  the  adviser  of 
her  conscience,  Ignatius  Loyola,  had  implanted  in  her 
soul.  Among  the  labours  of  love  and  works  of  penance 
with  which  she  crucified  her  vanity,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  was,  that  in  the  passion-week  of  each  year, 
she,  with  her  own  hands,  washed  the  feet  of  a  certain 
number  of  poor  people,  who  had  been  strictly  forbidden 
to  cleanse  themselves  in  advance,  then  waited  on  them 
at  table,  like  a.  servant,  and  dismissed  them  with  rich 
presents.  This  single  characteristic  may  suffice  to  show 
with  what  zeal  she  would  insist  on  the  execution  of  the 
edicts. 

Philip  left  the  Netherlands -in  1559;  a  storm  sank 
his  fleet,  and  as  he  stepped  safely  ashore  at  Laredo,- he 
expressed  his  gloomy  gratitude  in  the  horrid  vow  to 
the  God  wl\o  had  preserved  him,  to  exterminate  all 
heretics.     Anthony  Perenot,  Bishop   of  Arras,  subse- 


THE    HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  97 

qiiently  Archbishop  of  Mechlhi,  and  Metropolitan  of  all 
the  Netherlands,  whom  the  hatred  of  his  cotemporaries 
immortalized  under  the  name  of  Cardinal  Granvella, 
was  associated  with  Margaret,  in  order  to  exterminate 
the  Protestants.    The  Inquisition  and  the  edicts  seemed 
to  him  insufficient  to  arrest  the  infection  of  heresy,  so 
long  as  the  former  had  not  an  ample  supply  of  over- 
seers,  and  the   latter  had  not  a  sufficient  number  of 
instruments  to  give  effect  to  its  widely  extended  juris- 
diction.   He  therefore  proposed  to  institute  thirteen  new 
bishoprics  in  the  realm,  in  addition  to  the  four  hitherto 
established,  one  for  each  of  the  provinces  of  tlie  country, 
and  to  raise  four  of  them  to  the  rank  of  archbishoprics. 
Six  of  these  episcopal  sees  were  under  the  archbishopric 
of  Mechlin,  viz.,  in  Antwerp,  Herzogenbusch,  Ghent, 
Briiges,  Ypern,  and  Ruhrmond;   five  others,  Haarlem, 
Middelburg,    Lauvarden,    Deventer,    and    Groningen, 
under   the    archbishopric    of    Utrecht;    and    the   four 
remaining  ones,  Arras,  Tournai,  St.  Omer,  and  Namur, 
under  the  Archiepiscopal  See  of  Cambray.     Mechlin,  in 
the  midst  of  Brabant,  and  of  all  seventeen  provinces, 
was   the   primate   of  all  the  rest,  and,  together  with 
several  rich  abbeys,  was  the  reward  of  Granvella.     The 
revenues  of  the  new  bishoprics  were  derived  from  the 
treasures  of  the  monasteries  and  abbeys.      Some  of  the 
abbots   themselves  attained  the  rank  of  bishops;    and 
these,  with  the  possession  of  their  monasteries  and  pre- 
latures,  also   retained  a  vote  in  the  Diet,  which  was 
associated  with  it.     To  every  bishopric  nine  prebends 
were  attached,  which  were  entrusted  to  the  most  skilful 
jurists  and  theologians,  in  order  to  support  the  Inquisi- 
tion and  the  bishops  in  their  spiritual^  office.     To  the 
Archbishop  of  Mechlin,  as  the  metropolitan  of  all  the 
seventeen  provinces,  full  authority  was  given  to  appoint 
or   depose  archbishops  and  bishops,  according   to   his 
7 


98  HISTORY   AXD    LITERATURE   OF 

pleasure,  and  the  See  of  Rome  had  only  the  right  of 
approval.  Against  these  encroachments  upon  the 
most  cherished  rights  of  the  country  all  the  Pro- 
vinces united,  and  the  terrible  voice  of  patriotism 
shouted  the  alarm. 

In  this  tumult,  Prince  William  of  Orange  arose  as 
leader  of  the  people  and  defender  of  the  noblest  human 
rights  against  the  assumptions  of  despots.  William  the 
First,  Prince  of  Orange,  was  descended  from  the 
princely  German  house  of  Nassau,  which  had  flourished 
for  eight  hundred  years,  had  contended,  during  one 
period,  with  the  house  of  Austria  for  the  supremacy, 
and  had  given  an  Emperor  to  the  German  State. 
Besides  various  rich  provinces  in  the  Netherlands, 
which  made  him  a  citizen  of  the  State  and  an  obedient 
vassal  of  Spain,  he  possessed  the  still  independent 
principality  of  Orange,  bequeathed  to  him  in  his  last 
will  by  Renatus  of  Chalons,  son  of  Count  Henry  of 
Nassau,  who  had  married  the  heiress  of  the  house  of 
Chalons,  on  a  journey  as  ambassador  to  France.  Wil- 
liam was  born  in  1533,  at  Dillenburg,  in  the  Duchy  of 
Nassau.  Flis  mother  was  the  Countess  of  Stolberg. 
His  father,  the  Uuke  of  Nassau,  had  adopted  the  Pro- 
testant reHgion,  in  which  his  son  was  educated  by  his 
direction;  but  Charles  V.,  who  was  early  kindly  dis- 
posed to  the  boy,  took  him  when  very  young  to  his 
court,  and  let  him  grow  up  in  the  Roniish  faith.  This 
monarch,  who  discerned  in  the  child  the  futuje  great 
man,  kept  him  for  nine  years  near  his  person,  honoured 
him  with  his  own  instruction  in, the  affairs  of  state,  and 
bestowed  on  him  a  confidence  far  beyond  what  his 
years  would  have  justified^,  He  was  the  only  oiie 
who  was  permitted  to  remain  in  the  presence  of  the 
Emperor,  wheli  audience  wa^  given  to  foreign  ambas- 
sadors— an   evidence    that,   as^  a   boy,  he   had   already 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECniSlf.  99 

begun  to  deserve  the  honourable  surname  of  "The 
Silent."  William  was  twenty-three  years  old  when 
Charles  abdicated  the  throne.  A  man  like  this  prince 
could  not  be  acceptable  to  the  suspicious  and  tyrannical 
Philip.  William  belonged  to  the  number  of  those  lean, 
pale  men,  as  Cresar  calls  them,  who  do  not  sleep  at 
night,  and  who  think  too  much.  The  quiet  composure 
of  a  never  varying  countenance  concealed  a  restless, 
fiery  soul,  which  was  inaccessible  alike  to  craft  or  love, 
a  fertile,  untiring,  and  capacious  mind,  sensitive  and 
soft  enough  to  receive  all  impressions,  strong  enough  to 
bear  up  under  eveiy  change  of  fortune.  The  plan 
which  he  had  once  adopted  as  the  best,  no  opposition 
could  wear  out,  no  accident  destroy;  for  all  these  things 
had  stood  in  his  view  before  they  actually  occurred. 
Elevated  above  terror  and  joy,  he  could  be  moved  by 
fear;  but  that  fear  had  been  present  before  the  danger 
came;  he  was  composed  in  the  midst  of  tumult,  because 
in  the  time  of  peace  he  had  trembled.  No  one  was 
ever  born  to  be  the  leader  of  a  conspiracy  moro  tlian 
W^illiam  the  Silent.  A  penetrating,  steadfast  look  into 
the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future,  readiness  to  seize 
the  opportunity,  keen  calculation  of  the  long  chain  of 
futurity,  were  under  the  guardianship  of  a  free  and 
enlightened  virtue,  which  walks  with  steady  step  even  on 
the  crumbling  verge.  The  opinion  concerning  his  reli- 
gion seemed  ambiguous.  William  had  faith  in  the  Tope, 
so  long  as  his  benefactor,  the  Emperor,  lived;  but  the 
prepossession  which  his  young  heart  had  conceived  for 
the  Reformed  doctrine,  never  forsook  him.  Whatever 
Church  he  may  have' preferred  in  various  periods  of  his 
life,  he  was  wholly'  addicted  to  none.  ^In  subsequent 
years  he  went  over  to  Calvinism  with  as  little  hesita- 
tion as  he  in  early  childhood  had  forsaken  the  Lutheran 
religion  for  the  Roman  Catholic.  He  defended  the 
human  rights  of  Protestants  against  the  Spanish  tyranny, 


100  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

rather  than  their  opinions.     Their  sufferings,  not  their 
faith,  had  made  him  their  brother.* 

An  accident  developed  the  mighty  thought,  in  the 
soul  of  William,  to  break  in  pieces  the  yoke  of  Spanish 
tyranny.  AVilliam  had  been  retained  in  France  as  a 
hostage  of  the  peace  of  Chateau-Cambresis,  and  through 
the  imprudence  of  Henry  II.,  who  supposed  that  he 
was  speaking  with  a  confidant  of  the  King  of  Spain, 
had  become  possessed  of  a  secret  proposal,  which  the 
French  Court  had  suggested  to  the  Spanish,  against  the 
Protestants  of  both  kingdoms.  This  important  dis- 
covery the  Prince  lost  no  time  in  communicating  to  his 
friends  in  Brussels,  and  the  letters  which  were  ex- 
changed on  this  subject,  unfortunately  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  King  of  Spain.  Philip  was  less  surprised 
by  this  decisive  indication  of  William's  opinions,  than 
he  was  enraged  at  the  frustration  of  his  project;  the 
betrayer  of  a  state  secret  was  lost  to  the  good  opinion 
of  the  King;  but  this  disaffection  and  mistrust  were 
still  more  aggravated  offences  in  his  estimation. 

Lamoral,  Count  of  Egmont  and  Prince  of  Gavre, 
joined  Prince  William.  He  was  a  descendant  of  the 
princes  of  Gelder,  whose  warlike  spirit  the  arms  of  the 
House  of  Austria  had  tamed.  The  battles  at  Quentin 
and  Gravelingen  made  him  the  hero  of  his  century. 
The  Orange  faction  obtained  an  important  acquisition 
in  Count  Hoorne.  He  had  accompai:iied  the  King  as 
admiral  of  the  fleet  to  Biscay,  and  had  resumed  his 
position  in  the  council  of  the  State.  Hoorne's  restless 
spirit  responded  to  the  daring  projects  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange  and  of  Egmont,  and  soon  the  dangerous  trium- 
virate was  constituted  by  these  three  friends,  which 
shook  the  foundations  of  the  royal  authority,  and  finally 
toppled  it  to  the  'ground.     Jealousy,  private  advantage, 

*  This  is  not  a  true  estimate  of  William's  character,  as  Motley  has  abun- 
dantly proved. 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  101 

and  religious  differences,  had  separated  the  nobility  for 
a  long  period,  the  common  fate  of  degradation  and 
hatred  of  the  minister  had  reunited  them,  and  the  arti- 
fices of  the  administratrix  to  divide  them  and  form  two 
parties  out  of  the  nobility,  were  futile. 

The  dissatisfaction  with  the  new  Bishops  was  loudly 
expressed  in  all  the  provinces.  The  cry  was:  "The 
constitution  has  been  trampled  under-foot ;  the  rights  of 
the  nation  are  assailed;  the  Spanish  Inquisition  has 
opened  its  bloody  court!"  The  nobility  saw  the  royal 
power  in  the  Assembly  of  the  States  strengthened  by 
fourteen  influential  votes.  The  former  Bishops  com- 
plained that  their  revenues  had  been  diminished  and 
their  districts  curtailed.  The  abbots  and  monks  had 
lost  both  revenues  and  influence.  Nobles  and  people, 
laymen  and  priests,  advanced  together  against  the  com- 
mon enemy.  Brabant  was  the  loudest  in  its  resistance. 
A  defeat  which  Philip  sustained  from  the  Turks,  com- 
pelled him  to  call  away  the  Spanish  troops  out  of  the 
Xetherlands,  and  use  them  on  the  Mediterranean  Sea. 
The  horrible  procedures  against  heretics  exasperated 
the  whole  nation.  All  executions  of  confessors  of  the 
new  religion  now  became  just  so  many  tempting  exhi- 
bitions of  their  excellence,  so  many  theatres  of  their 
triumph  and  glorious  constancy.  The  heroic  fortitude 
with  which  they  died,  won  converts  to  the  faith  for 
which  they  sufl'ered.  Ten  new  confessors  lived  for 
every  one  that  was  murdered.  Not  in  cities  and  towns 
only,  but  on  the  public  highways,  on  boats,  in  carriages, 
discussions  were  held  about  the  authority  of  the  Pope, 
the  Saints,  Purgatory,  and  Indulgences.  In  all  these 
places,  sermons  Were  delivered,  and  people  were  con- 
verted. From  the  country,  and  out  of  the  towns,  the 
mob  rushed  forth  to  rescue  the  prisoners  of  the  Holy 
Oflice  from  tJie.  hands  of  the  sbirri,  and  the  magistrates 


102  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

who  ventured  to  uphold  their  authority  by  force,  were 
pelted  with  stones.  Crowds  accompanied  the  Protestant 
preachers,  whom  the  Inquisition  sought  to  get  into  its 
power,  carried  them  on  their  shoulders  to  and  from  the 
church,  and  concealed  them  at  the  peril  of  life  from 
their  pursuers.  The  spirit  of  insurrection  and  riot  was 
everywhere  aroused.  Prisons  were  broken  open,  and 
the  victims  were  snatched  by  force  from  the  hands  of 
the  authorities.  Five  thousand  men  were  seen  present 
at  one  Protestant  sermon  in  Tournay  and  Valenciennes. 
In  the  Northern  provinces,  where  liberty  was  stronger, 
and  the  government  was  more  remote,  and  where  the 
neighbourhood  of  Germany  and  Denmark  augmented 
the  sources  of  the  infection,  the  number  was  still  greater. 
This  manifestation,  the  disobedience  of  the  edicts,  the 
necessity  of  levying  new  recruits,  and  the  suspicious 
movements  of  the  Hugonots  on  the  French  borders, 
distressed  the  Administratrix  exceedingly.  To  all  this 
was  added  the  command  from  Madrid,  to  order  back 
two  thousand  Netherland  cavalry,  who,  in  the  stress  of 
the  religious  war,  had  taken  refuge  with  Philip  II. 
They  were  to  be  driven  back  to  the  army  of  the  Queen's 
mother  in  France,  for  Philip  was  wont  to  regard  every 
matter  which  was  an  affair  of  faith,  as  his  own  personal 
concern.  The  Administratrix  communicates  the  will  of 
the  King  to  the  States'  Council,  and  meets  with  the 
most  violent  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  nobles. 
Whilst  the  Kegent  is  wavering  between  the  orders  of 
the  King,  and  the  urgent  representations  of  her  council- 
lors, William  of  Orange  rises,  and  proposes  to  summon 
an  assembly  of  the  States  General:  -No  policy  more 
fatal  to  the  royal  authority  could  be  adopted,  than  this 
national  convention,  so  tempting  an  exhibition,  at  the 
present  moment,  of  its  power  and  rights.  The  minister 
was  wide  awake  to  the  danger  which  the  Prince  was 


TUE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  103 

preparing  by  this  stroke.  A  hint  from  him  admonished 
the  Diicliess  to  adjourn  the  assembly.  He  himself  wrote 
to  Madrid  that  nothing  could  be  more  disadvantageous 
to  the  Government  than  to  give  its  consent  to  this 
assembly  of  the  States;  that  such  a  measure  was  at  all 
times  dangerous,  because  it  led  the  nation  to  inquire 
into  and  restrain  the  rights  of  the  Crown;  but  now  it 
was  thrice  prejudicial,  especially  as  the  spirit  of  insur- 
rection was  so  widespread,  and  the  entire  nobility, 
through  the  arts  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  was  increas- 
ing the  national  disaffection.  This  letter  produced  its 
full  effect  upon  the  King.  The  assembly  of  the  States 
was  peremptorily  forbidden;  the  decrees  respecting  the 
punishment  of  heretics  were  renewed  with  great  seve- 
rity, and  the  Duchess  was  ordered  to  send  the  desired 
auxiliary  troops  without  delay.  But  to  this  the  council 
was  not  to  be  induced.  Instead  of  subsidies,  it  agreed 
to  send  money  to  the  Queen's  mother.  In  order  to 
deceive  the  nation  with  a  shadowy  representation  of 
republican  liberty,  the  Regent  summoned  the  Stadt- 
holders  of  the  Provinces,  and  the  Knights  of  the  Golden 
Fleece,  to  an  extraordinary  assembly  at  Brussels,  in 
order  to  deliberate  on  the  present  dangers  and  necessi- 
ties of  the  State.  The  object  of  the  meeting  was 
explained,  and  three  days'  time  given  for  deliberation. 
Meanwhile,  the  Prince  of  Orange  assembled  them  in 
his  palace,  and  represented  the  necessity  of  uniting 
themselves  before  the  session,  and  agreeing  beforehand 
on  the  measures  which  were  to  be  advocated.  Many 
approved  this  proposal.  Only  Count  Barlaimont,  with 
a.  few  adherents  oi-^Xhe  minister,  spoke  in  favour  of  the 
prerogatives  of  the  Crown.  The  Duchess,  advised  of 
this  occurrence,  occupied  the  Knights"§o  adroitly,  that 
they  had  no  time  to  arrive  at  any  further  understand- 
ing.     At  last  it  was  resolved  to  send  an  embassy  to 


104  HISTORY    AND    LITERATURE   OF 

Spain,  in  order  to  inform  the  King  of  the  present  pos- 
ture of  affairs;  but  the  Duchess  sent  another  secret 
envoy  to  Madrid,  in  advance,  who  acquainted  the  King 
with  all  that  had  been  arranged  at  the  caucus  between 
the  Prince  of  Orange  and  the  Knights.  The  public 
ambassador  was  flattered  in  Madrid  with  empty  protesta- 
tions of  the  royal  good  will;  but  the  Regent  was  secretly 
commanded  to  frustrate  the  secret  union  of  the  nobility 
by  all  the  means  in  her  power. 

The  embassy  from  Madrid  returned,  and  communi- 
cated to  the  State  Council  the  highly  favourable  views 
of  the  sovereign;  but  the  Prince  of  Orange,  who  had 
surrounded  the  King  with  spies,  received  information 
which  was  entitled  to  greater  credit.  Prom  them  he 
learned  that  Granvella  had  slandered  him  and  his 
friends  in  the  most  infamous  manner,  and  had  used  the 
most  opprobrious  epithets  in  relation  to  the  conduct  of 
the  nobility. 

There  was  no  help,  so  long  as  the  minister  was  not 
driven  from  the  helm  of  the  go'vernment,  and  this 
luidertaking,  bold  and  adventurous  as  it  seemed,  now 
wholly  occupied  the  Prince.  In  a  common  letter,  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  Count  Egmont,  Count  Hoorne, 
brought  accusations  against  the  minister  before  the 
King,  and  insisted  strenuously  upon  his  removal.  The 
Duchess  received  information  concerning  this  letter, 
and  neutralized  its  effect  by  another,  which  she 
despatched  before  it.  The  King  answered,  that  it  was 
not  his  wont  to  condemn  his  minister  on  the  accusa- 
tion of  his  enemies,  without  a,  hearing.  With  rare 
courage,  they  ventured  a  second  attempt,  and  wrote  to 
the  King,  that  the  general  tranquillity  was  utterly 
incompatible  with  the  presence  of  this  individual.  If 
it  was  not  the*  pleasure  of  his  Majesty  to  remove  this 
person,   they   hoped   that   in    future   they   would    be 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  105 

relieved  of  the  duty  of  attending  the  Senate.  As  the 
sovereign  was  altogether  averse  to  grant  their  request, 
they  left  the  State  Council,  and  even  removed  from 
Brussels.  By  process  of  law,  therefore,  they  could  not 
remove  the  minister;  they  now  adopted  another  plan. 
On  every  occasion  they  manifested  their  public  con- 
tempt, and  placed  every  measure  which  he  adopted  in 
a  ridiculous  light.  The  voice  of  the  people  was  loud 
and  still  louder  against  him.  Every  one  hated  him. 
Every  execution  increased  the  public  horror,  and  uni- 
versal execration  pursued  him.  The  minister  began  to 
totter  at  the  court  of  the  Duchess,  and  at  last  he  fell. 
Granvella  was  now  hurled  to  the  ground;  but  his 
adherents  still  maintained  their  footing,  and  they,  too, 
must  be  cast  down.  Viglius,  a  worthy  and  a  learned 
man,  a  friend  of  Erasmus,  but  a  weak  and  timid  per- 
son, was  President  of  the  Privy  Council,  State  Coun- 
cillor, and  Keeper  of  the  Seals,  and  was  now  the  most 
important  personage,  the  strongest  prop  of  the  Crown 
and  Tiara.  The  faction  had  a  no  less  formidable  oppo- 
nent in  the  President  of  the  Council  of  the  Exchequer, 
Count  Barlaimont.  More  than  once  the  Prince  of 
Orange  endeavoured  to  detach  him  from  the  interest  of 
the  Cardinal,  and  incorporate  him  with  his  own  party; 
but  Barlaimont  remained  faithful  to  the  cause  of  the 
King. 

As  every  attempt  had  failed,  the  effort  was  made,  at 
all  events,  to  introduce  some  new  members  into  both 
Courts,  who  should  be  more  devoted  to  the  interest  of 
the  faction.  When  the  Prince  could  not  succeed, 
either  in  winning  tke  Privy  Council  over  to  his  plans, 
or  in  insinuating  his  own  adherents  in^o  these  courts, 
there  was  no  other  resource  left  but  to  render  the  effi- 
ciency of  both  entirely  nugatory,  by  transplanting  the 
business  which- belonged  to  them  into  the  State  Coun- 


106  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

cil.  In  order  to  carry  out  this  plan,  the  Prince  sought 
the  assistance  of  the  remaining  Councils  of  the  State, 
alarmed  the  Duchess  by  exaggerated  reports  of  the 
increase  of  heresy,  of  the  ruinous  condition  of  the 
citizens,  of  the  administration  of  justice,  and  of  the 
finances.  Reeling  with  terror,  she  assembled  all  three 
Courts,  in  order  to  deliberate  how  these  disorders 
might  be  remedied.  The  majority  of  votes  decided 
that  an  Envoy  Extraordinary  should  be  sent  to  Spain,  to 
inform  the  King  of  the  state  of  affairs,  and  to  induce 
him  to  adopt  better  measures.  Count  Egmont  received 
the  commission  to  make  representations  to  the  King,  in 
order  to  persuade  him  to  adopt  a  milder  procedure 
towards  the  Protestants,  to  merge  the  two  other  courts 
in  the  State  Council,  and  to  effect  the  revocation  of  the 
decrees  of  Trent,  which  were  about  to  be  introduced ; 
but  the  Duchess  admonished  him  to  inform  the  monarch 
respecting  the  opposition  of  the  people  of  the  Nether- 
lands to  the  edicts,  and  the  wretched  state  of  the 
military  affairs  and  finances  of  the'  State. 

President  Viglius  drew  up  the  Count's  commission. 
It  contained  earnest  complaints  concerning  the  decay  of 
the  administration  of  justice,  the  growth  of  heresy,  and 
the  exhaustion  of  the  treasury.  He  urged  strenuously 
a  personal  visitation  on  the  part  of  the  King.  The  rest 
w^as  left  to  the  eloquence  of  the  Ambassador.  The 
Prince  of  Orange  objected,  that  the  Count's  instructions 
were  too  general  and  indefinite,  and  spoke  so  strongly, 
that  Viglius  succumbed  to  the  violence  of  his  vexation. 
He  was  found,  the  next  morning,  paralyzed,  and  in 
danger  of  death.  His  position  was  assumed  by  Joachim 
Hopper,  a  man  of  the  old  ^tyle,  and  of  irreproachable 
morals.  He  added  some, appendices  to  the  commission 
of  the  Ambassador,  which" ^vere  favourable  to  the  party 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISAT.  107 

of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  touching  the  suppression  of 
the  Inquisition,  and  the  blending  of  the  three  Courts. 

When  Count  Egmont  hereupon  took  leave  of  the 
President,  who  had  meanwhile  recovered  from  his 
illness,  the  latter  requested  him  to  bring  back  with  him 
his  dismissal  from  his  office  as  minister.  The  Count 
set  out  on  his  journey  to  Spain  in  January,  1565,  and 
was  welcomed  with  an  amount  of  kindness  and  respect 
which  had  never  before  been  experienced  by  one  in  his 
position.  The  Sovereign  granted  his  requests,  and 
made  him  a  present  of  fifty  thousand  gulden.  The 
simulated  gentleness  of  the  King,  and  the  protestations 
of  good  will  which  he  did  not  feel,  baffled  the  Count's 
eloquence.  Scarcely  had  he  returned,  when  severer 
edicts  against  heretics  exposed  the  falsehood  of  the 
joyful  intelligence  which  he  had  brought  with  him, 
touching  the  happy  change  in  the  mind  of  the  King. 
The  Count,  said  William,  has  been  cheated  by  Spanish 
duplicity. 

The  treachery  of  the  Spanish  ministry  was  now  laid 
bare.  The  King  commanded  that  the  edicts  against 
heretics  should  be  most  strictly  enforced,  that  the 
Inquisition  should  receive  the  most  powerful  support 
from  the  secular  arm,  and  that  the  decrees  of  the 
Council  of  Trent  should  be  irrevocably  and  uncondition- 
ally binding  in  all  provinces  of  the  Netherlands.  Who- 
ever among  the  stadtholders  and  judges  should  be 
negligent  in  this  matter  was  to  be  deposed  from  his 
office.  He  would  approve  all  that  the  Inquisition 
might  do,  let  it  go  as. far  as  it  would.  This  royal  man- 
date, to  which  the-'party  of  the  Prince  of  Orange 
ascribed  all  the  subsequent  sufferings  q|^  the  Nether- 
lands, produced  the  most  violent  sensation,  and  struck 
terror  into  the  people.  Already  the  prison-doors 
were  heard  grating  on  their  hinges,  chains  and  fetters 


108  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

were  clanking,  and  the  stakes  and  fagots  were  made 
ready.  These  things  were  the  common  topic  of  con- 
versation. Notices  were  posted  on  the  doors  of  the 
nobility,  in  which  they  were  summoned,  as  Rome  for- 
merly invoked  her  Brutus,  to  come  to  the  rescue  of 
struggUng  liberty.  Biting  sarcasms  appeared  in  rela- 
tion to  the  new  bishops.  The  clergy  were  ridiculed  in 
comedies,  and  the  satire  spared  the  throne  as  little  as 
the  chair  of  the  Pope.  Alarmed  by  the  rumours  of 
these  things,  the  Duchess  summoned  all  the  State 
Councils  to  decide  the  course  of  conduct  she  was  to 
pursue  in  this  critical  posture  of  affairs.  The  venera- 
bL?  Viglius  advised,  by  no  means,  to  give  publicity  to 
the  King's  decree,  until  the  sovereign  had  been  ap- 
prised of  the  reception  which,  under  present  circum- 
stances, it  would  probably  encounter.  To  the  aston- 
ishment of  all  parties,  the  Prince  of  Orange  rose  and 
said:  "What  have  the  many  representations  which  we 
have  made  to  the  monarch — the  many  letters  which  we 
have  written  to  him — what  has  the  embassy  accom- 
plished, which  we  so  recently  sent  to  him]  Come  on, 
then,  let  us  carry  out  his  project."  The  party  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange  prevailed,  and  the  King's  decree  was 
openly  promulgcd.  This  session  destroyed  for  ever  the 
peace  of  the  Duchess ;  from  tliis  date,  the  Netherlanders 
reckon  all  the  storms  which,  without  cessation,  raged  in 
their  country.  An  edict  was  accordingly  issued  to  all 
stadtholders  of  the  provinces,  in  which  they  were  com- 
manded to  put  in  force  the  mandates  of  the  Emperor 
and  of  the  King  against  heretics,  together  with  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent.  For  this  purpose, 
every  one  was  directed  tQ  choose  a  suitable  man  from 
the  council  over  which. he  presided,  whose  business  it 
should  be  tcT  travel  through  the  provinces  and  institute 
strict  inquiries  concerning  the  execution  of  these  com- 


THE    HEIDELBEEG    CATECHISM.  109 

mands.  These  mandates,  which  were  publicly  read  in 
every  city  by  a  herald,  produced  the  effect  upon  the 
people  which  completely  justified  the  fears  of  President 
Viglius  and  the  expectations  of  the  Prince.  Nearly  all 
the  stadtholders  refused  obedience,  and  threatened  to 
resign,  if  the  matter  was  pressed;  to  deliver  from  fifty 
to  sixty  thousand  people  to  the  flames  was  no  commis- 
sion for  them.  A  general  spirit  of  insurrection  per- 
vaded the  people.  They  even  demanded  that  the 
Council  of  State  should  lodge  a  complaint  against  the 
King  of  Spain  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  Spain, 
because  he  had  violated  his  oath  and  invaded  the  privi- 
leges and  rights  of  the  land.  The  Calvinists  published 
their  Confession  of  Faith,  and  in  a  preface,  declared  to 
the  King  that,  although  they  were  one  hundred  thousand 
strong,  they  still  kept  the  peace,  and  paid  all  the  taxes 
of  the  country,  the  same  as  others;  from  which  it  was 
manifest,  they  added,  that  they  had  no  design  to  revolt. 
Dangerous  tracts  were  publicly  disseminated,  without 
charge,  which  painted  the  Spanish  tyranny  in  the  most 
odious  colours,  and  reminded  the  nation  of  its  privi- 
leges and  its  strength.  The  warlike  preparations  of 
Philip  against  the  Porte,  and  those  which  Erich,  Duke 
of  Brunswick,  was  making  in  the  vicinity,  strengthened 
the  general  suspicion  that  the  Inquisition  was  to  be 
imposed  on  the  Netherlands  by  force.  Many  of  the 
principal  merchants  were  desirous  to  sell  their  houses 
and  effects;  others  looked  around  for  a  leader,  and 
threw  out  hints  of  a  forcible  resistance  and  foreign  aid. 
The  Prince  of  Orange  resigned  his  place  in  the  Council 
of  State,  and  wrote.-  to  the  Duchess,  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  follow  out  the  commands  of  the  King 
without  kindling  a  civil  war.  He  retired  to  liis  City 
of  Breda,  where  he  quietly  awaited  the  development  of 
the  crisis.        _    . 


110  HISTORY  AND    LITERATURE   OF 

Up  to  tills  period,  the  general  tranquillity  had  been 
the  honest  desire  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  Counts 
Egmont  and  Hoorne,  and  their  friends.  Nothing  had 
happened  as  yet,  which  was  inconsistent  with  the 
duty  which  they  owed  to  their  sovereign.  They  had 
demeaned  themselves  as  men  of  uprightness  and  honour 
in  their  various  positions  as  responsible  members  of  a 
free  State,  as  national  representatives  and  advocates,  as 
advisers  of  the  King.  The  weapons  with  which  they 
had  contended  against  the  assumptions  of  the  court, 
were  remonstrances,  modest  complaints,  and  petitions. 
They  had  never  allowed  themselves  to  be  hurried  so  far 
by  a  righteous  zeal  for  their  good  cause,  as  to  forget  the 
bounds  of  that  wisdom  and  moderation  which  are  usu- 
ally so  readily  transcended  by  party  spirit.  Not  all  the 
nobles  of  the  kingdom,  however,  listened  to  these  dic- 
tates of  prudence  and  forbearance.  That  class  of  the 
nobility  whose  services  and  necessities,  Philip,  on  his 
entrance  upon  the  government,  deemed  it  not  necessary 
to  notice,  and  who  were  now  oppressed  with  debt,  from 
which  they  had  no  hope  of  extricating  themselves  by 
their  own  unaided  efforts,  was  an  unmerciful  judge  and 
censor  of  the  royal  acts,  nourished  the  popular  disaffec- 
tion, and  coveted  the  wealth  of  the  Protestant  mer- 
chants, who  deemed  the  purchase  of  liberty  not  too 
dear  at  any  price.  Louis  of  Nassau,  and  Henry  of 
Brederoden,  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  enter- 
prise. Louis  of  Nassau,  the  brother  of  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  united  in  his  person  all  the  qualities  which 
were  calculated  to  make  him  conspicuous  in  such  a 
position.  In  Geneva,  where  he'  had  studied,  he  had 
imbibed  a  hatred  against  the  hierarchy,  and  a  love  'for 
the  new  religion,  and  los.t  no  opportunity  to  win  adhe- 
rents to  these  pi'inciples  m  his  native  country.  Popery 
and  Spanish  rule  were  the  greatest   abominations   to 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  Ill 

him.  The  warm  blood  of  his  fiery  temperament  and 
youth  would  not  allow  him  to  tread  the  devious  paths 
by  which  his  brother  moved  towards  the  goal. 

Henry  of  Brederoden,  Lord  of  Viane,  and  Count  of 
Utrecht,  was  descended  from  the  old  Dutch  counts,  who 
had  formerly  ruled  this  province  as  sovereign  princes. 
He,  too,  quietly  favoured  the  evangelical  Confession. 
Besides  these  two,  the  following,  who  were  among  the 
most  prominent  nobility  of  the  Netherlands,  the  young 
Count  Charles  of  Mansfield,  whose  father  had  been  a 
zealous  royalist;  Count  Culemburg,  the  two  Counts 
Bergen  and  Battenburg;  John  of  Marnix,  Lord  of 
Toulouse;  Philip  of  Marnix,  Lord  of  St.  Aldegende; 
and  many  others,  joined  the  League,  which  was  formed 
about  the  middle  of  November,  1565,  in  the  house  of  a 
certain  Von  Hammes,  King-at-Arms  of  the  Golden 
Fleece,  and  a  most  earnest  Calvinist.  Six  men  here 
decided  the  fate  of  their  country,  as  the  sworn  compa- 
triots once  secured  the  freedom  of  Switzerland,  kindled 
the  torch  of  a  forty  years'  war,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  liberty.  The  brotherhood  swore  to  resist  the  Inqui- 
sition with  all  their  might,  to  regard  the  Government 
as  sacred,  and  by  no  means  to  violate  their  oath  under 
any  name,  be  it  called  rebellion,  insurrection,  or  what- 
ever else  it  might.  This  compromise  was  translated 
into  several  languages,  and  rapidly  distributed  through 
the  provinces.  Every  one  of  the  conspirators  gathered 
all  he  could  together  of  friends,  relatives,  dependents, 
and  servants,  in  order  to  give  to  the  League  the  prestige 
of  numbers.  Great  feasts  were  held,  which  lasted  for 
whole  days.  Every^-guest  was  added  to  the  League  by 
prior  assurances  of  friendship.  The  trick  was  employed 
of  counterfeiting  the  seals  and  signatures  of  the  Prince 
of  Orange,  of  Counts  Egmont,  Hoorne,  Von  Megen, 
and  others,   ai^d  .  this   gained  many  hundreds   for  the 


112  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

League.  Special  attention  was  paid  also  to  the  officers 
of  the  army,  in  order  to  be  prepared  on  this  side,  in 
case  of  emergiencies  in  which  violence  might  be  offered. 
People  of  all  classes  and  ranks  subscribed  to  the 
League.  Religion  made  no  difference.  Even  Catholic 
priests  joined  it.  The  Catholics  were  concerned  only 
for  the  suppression  of  the  Inquisition,  and  for  the  modi- 
fication of  the  edicts;  the  Protestants  aimed  at  unre- 
stricted freedom  of  conscience.  Count  Megen  gave  the 
Princess  the  first  information  concerning  this  conspiracy. 
Count  Egmont  handed  her  a  copy  of  the  compromise. 
The  Prince  of  Orleans  wrote  to  her,  that  an  army  was 
being  enlisted,  four  hundred  officers  had  been  appointed, 
and  twenty  thousand  men  would  soon  appear  under 
arms.  The  Administratrix,  stunned  by  the  terrors  of 
this  announcement,  endeavoured  to  rally  the  scattered 
Council  of  State,  and  in  an  urgent  letter,  invited  the 
Prince  of  Orleans  and  Count  Hoorne  to  resume  the 
places  in  the  Senate,  which  they  had  resigned,  ordered 
the  forts  to  be  strengthened  and  repaired,  sent  couriers  to 
Spain,  and  circulated  the  report,  that  the  King  was  on 
his  way.  After  four  months,  the  whole  Council  of  State 
assembled  in  March,  at  Brussels.  The  Prince  of  Orange 
expressed,  during  its  session,  bitter  truths  and  com- 
plaints against  the  Court;  several  followed  his  example, 
and  the  Duchess  had  trouble  to  quiet  the  tumult.  She 
begged  simply  a  decision  of  the  question,  whether  the 
members  of  the  League  should  be  permitted  to  hand 
in  a  petition  to  the  Court,  or  nof?  Some  were  against 
it;  but  the  Prince  of  Orange  voted  emphatically  for  it. 
"  The  members  of  the  League,"  said  he,  "  are  known  to 
me  as  upright  and  honourable  men;  a  large  number  of 
them  stand  in  relations  of  friendship  and  kindred  with 
me.  To  present  a  petition,  is  the  privilege  of  every 
subject;  a  right  whiph  the  meanest  man  in  all  the  State 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  113 

may  enjoy,  cannot  be  denied  to  so  influential  a  society, 
without  injustice."  A  majority  of  votes  was  now  of 
this  opinion ;  it  was  resolved  to  give  this  permission  to 
the  League.  Before  the  decision  was  made,  respecting 
the  answer  to  be  given  in  relation  to  the  petition  of  the 
League,  all  Brussels  rang  with  the  rumour,  that  the 
conspirators  were  approaching  the  city.  The  Duchess, 
greatly  excited,  proposed  the  question,  whether  the 
gates  should  be  closed  against  them,  or  whether  they 
should  save  themselves  by  flight]  Both  propositions 
were  rejected  as  not  worthy  to  be  entertained.  The 
members  of  the  Leaorue  assembled  in  the  Culemburof 
House  and  renewed  their  oath.  On  the  followinj>:  dav, 
April  5th,  1566,  the  fraternity  marched  in  procession 
to  the  palace,  four  abreast,  to  the  number  of  four  hun- 
dred, headed  by  the  Count  of  Nassau  and  Brederode  ; 
all  Brussels  followed  the  unusual  spectacle  with  silent 
amazement.  The  Administratrix  Margaretta  received 
the  procession,  surrounded  by  all  her  councillors  and 
the  Knights  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  and  promised  to 
return  an  answer  to  the  petition  of  the  fraternity  on 
the  following  day.  The  petition  contained  assurances 
of  fidelity  to  the  King,  and  a  request  to  despatch  a 
well  disposed  and  properly  instructed  person  to  Madrid, 
who  might  persuade  the  King,  in  accordance  with  the 
unanimous  wish  of  the  nation,  to  abolish  the  Inquisi- 
tion, to  revoke  the  edicts,  and  instead  of  them,  to 
enact,  at  a  general  council  of  the  States,  new  and  more 
humane  statutes.  Meanwhile,  however,  until  the  King 
should  make  known  his  pleasure,  it  was  desired  that 
the  edicts  might  be  suspended,  and  the  Inquisition  be 
put  out  of  active  operation.  The  next  day,  the  con- 
spirators appeared  in  the  same  procession,  but  in  still 
greater  numbers,  before  the  Regent,  in  order  to  receive 
her  decision.  _  It  was  written  on  the  margin  of  the 
8 


114  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

petition,  and  was  to  the  effect:  "It  did  not  lie  in  her 
power  to  suspend  the  operation  of  the  Inquisition  and 
the  edicts;  but  yet,  she  was  willing,  in  accordance  with 
the  wish  of  the  League,  to  send  one  of  the  nobility  to 
Spain,  and  to  support  their  request,  with  all  her  influ- 
ence, before  the  King.  Meanwhile,  the  Inquisitors 
should  be  admonished  to  exercise  their  ofiice  with 
moderation ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  League  must 
undertake  nothing  against  the  Catholic  faith." 

The  League  was  content  with  this  answer.  Three 
days  afterwards,  they  declared,  in  a  new  memorial  to 
the  Regent,  most  emphatically,  "  that  they  had  done 
nothing  but  their  duty,  and  that  nothing  but  loyalty 
to  the  King  had  been  their  motive."  This  declaration 
the  Duchess  evaded.  On  the  same  day  Brederode  en- 
tertained the  conspirators  in  the  Culemburg  palace; 
nearly  three  hundred  guests  were  present ;  wine  made 
them  reckless,  and  their  courage  increased  with  their 
numbers.  Just  then  some  of  them  remembered  that 
Count  Barlaimont  had  whispered' to  the  Duchess,  who 
turned  pale  when  the  petition  was  handed  in,  "  that  she 
should  not  be  frightened  by  a  crowd  of  beggars," 
{guenx.)  This  expression  was  caught  up,  as  one 
which  concealed  the  audacity  of  the  affair  under  the 
guise  of  humility,  and  the  success  of  which  was  the 
most  biting  satire  upon  the  wealthiest  of  all  kings. 
Forthwith  they  drank  to  one  another,  under  this  name, 
and  with  an  uproar  of  applause  the  toast  was.  given — 
"Long  life  to  the  Beggars!"  After  the  table  was 
cleared,  Brederode  appeared  with  a  bag,  such  as  the 
wandering  pilgrims  and  beggars  of  that  day  carried, 
hung  it  about  his  neck,  drank  the  health  of  the  whole 
company  in  a  wooden  cup,  and  pledged  himself  to  ven- 
ture good  arid  blood,  i.  e., '  property  and  life,  for  the 
League.     All  repeated  the  ^ords  with  a  loud  voice; 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  115 

the  Clip  went  round,  and  each  one  uttered  the  same 
vow.  The  noise  which  this  farce  created  drew  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  Counts  Egmont  and  Hoorne,  who 
were  riding  by,  into  the  house,  and  Brederode,  as  their 
host,  insisted  that  they  should  drink  a  glass  with  them. 
The  arrival  of  these  three  influential  men  renewed  the 
rejoicing  of  the  guests.  The  name  of  "The  Beggars" 
was  made  the  designation  of  the  fraternity,  and  the 
insignia  of  the  brotherhood  w^ere  borrowed  from  it.  In 
a  few  days  the  city  of  Brussels  swarmed  with  garments 
of  ash-grey.  Around  the  neck  a  gold  or  silver  coin  was 
suspended,  afterwards  called  the  Beggar's  penny,  one 
side  of  which  presented  the  bust  of  the  King,  with  the 
inscription,  "  True  to  the  King."  On  the  other  side  were 
two  clasped  hands,  holding  a  provision-wallet,  with  the 
words,  "  Even  to  the  beggar's  sack." 

The  brotherhood  dispersed,  and  awaited  the  decision 
of  the  King.  The  Duchess  provided  a  new  formula 
of  the  edicts,  and  sent  it  for  ratification  to  Madrid. 
The  report  was  spread  that  no  one  need  now  apprehend 
anything  on  account  of  religious  opinions.  Imme- 
diately after  this  intelligence,  the  Protestants  who 
had  fled,  came  back  to  their  homes.  The  new  reli<rion 
received  a  vast  accession.  The  name  of  "  The  Begrsrars" 
was  held  in  high  honour  throughout  the  provinces. 
The  Protestants  now  ventured  to  hold  public  assem- 
blies. Fifteen  thousand  persons  crowded  to  one  sermon, 
in  which  the  Pope,  the  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Trent, 
and  Purgatory,  were  ridiculed  in  comical  style;  a 
general  clapping  of  hands,  as  in  a  theatre,  rewarded  the 
speaker.  At  th©-  conclusion  of  the  service,  they 
conducted  their  preacher  home  in  ^iumph  with  an 
escort  of  armed  horsemen.  The  Duchess  now  invoked 
the  League  to  make  good  its  promises,  and  to  lend  a 
helping   han(i  for   the   restoration   of    order.      Count 


116  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Brederode  availed  himself  of  this  pretext  to  summon  a 
general  assembly  of  the  whole  League.  Two  thousand 
came  together  in  St.  Truyn,  Brederode  and  Louis  of 
Nassau  at  their  head,  and  endeavoured  to  extort  from 
the  Duchess  a  brief,  insuring  the  safety  of  their  persons, 
inasmuch  as  the  long  delay  of  the  royal  answer  from 
Madrid  augured  nothing  good  for  them. ' 

The  Catholic  members  of  the  League  now  heard,  to 
their  no  small  amazement,  a  proposition  for  general 
freedom  of  conscience,  and,  to  their  terror,  became 
aware  in  what  a  perilous  adventure  they  had  entangled 
themselves.  Young  Count  Mansfield  immediately 
withdrew,  and  an  internal  division  began  to  undermine 
the  work,  which  had  been  accomplished  in  haste. 
Count  Egmont  and  the  Prince  of  Orange  were  em- 
powered by  the  Duchess  to  treat  with  the  League. 
The  League  returned  a  formal  answer,  and  declared 
that  it  had  done  all  that  it  had  promised.  The 
Duchess  found  herself  obliged,  as  the  answer  from 
Madrid  had  not  yet  arrived,  to  make  the  humiliating 
proposition  to  the  members  of  the  League  at  St.  Truyn, 
that  they  should  wait  twenty-four  days  longer  for 
the  decision  of  the  King,  before  they  took  any  further 
steps. 

At  last  the  ambassador  returned  from  Madrid.  The 
King  declared  the  General  Diet  to  be  inexpedient,  and 
rejected  it  altogether,  and,  in  a  private  missive,  com- 
manded the  Duchess  secretly  and  quietly  to  prepare  for 
war;  to  collect  three  thousand  cavalry  and  ten  thousand 
infantry  in  Germany,  for  which  purpose  he  transmitted 
the  sum  of  three  hundred  thousand  gold  gulden.  The 
moderation  he  rejected  as  too  mild — but  yet  he  sacri- 
ficed the  Papal  Inquisition  and  retained  only  the  Epis- 
copal. This  wisfe  concession-  came  too  late.  When  the 
royal  letters  reached .  Brussels,  the  iconoclasts  were  in 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISil.  117 

the  height  of  their  fury.  Churches  and  convents  were 
ruthlessly  devastated,  the  most  costly  works  of  art  were 
destroyed,  and  precious  libraries  and  manuscripts 
perished  in  the  flames.  The  Duchess,  alarmed  for  her 
personal  safety,  was  on  the  point  of  fleeing  to  Mons  in 
Hunegan.  The  venerable  Viglius  persuaded  her  to 
remain.  A  Council  of  State  was  held,  whose  final 
decision  was  to  yield  to  necessity,  to  allow  preaching  in 
those  places  in  which  it  had  been  already  instituted,  to 
make  the  suppression  of  the  Papal  Inquisition  public, 
to  abrogate  the  edicts  against  heretics,  and,  above  all. 
to  accord  to  the  nobility  of  the  League,  without  any 
reservation,  the  safe-conduct  which  they  demanded. 
The  Prince  of  Orange,  with  Counts  Egmont  and  Hoorne, 
negotiated  with  the  deputies  of  the  League.  Assurances 
and  counter-assurances  were  prepared  and  signed  in 
formal  instruments  of  writing.  The  Protestants  re- 
store the  plundered  churches  to  their  legal  owners, 
and  a  place  is  assigned  to  them  in  the  city,  where  they 
are  at  liberty  to  build  churches  for  their  own  use. 
Each  religious  society  was  allowed  to  have  two  minis- 
ters, but  these  must  be  native  Netherlanders.  As  to 
the  rest,  they  were  to  enjoy  the  same  protection  as  the 
established  religion.  This  arrangement  was  to  be  bind- 
ing until  the  King,  by  assembly  of  the  States,  should 
otherwise  order;  but  then  every  one  should  be  at  liberty 
to  leave  the  country  with  his  family  and  effects.  This 
agreement  the  Prince  of  Orange  made  with  the  Pro- 
vinces, without  having  the  full  authority.  Other  stadt- 
holders,  Noirkarmes,  Megen,  and  Aremberg,  acted 
with  more  severity;  they  suppressed  the  Protestant 
sect,  and  banished  all  its  preachers.      ^ 

Philip  soon  received  tidings  of  the  outrages  of  the 
iconoclasts,  and  committed  the  matter  to  his  Council 
for  their  con^deration.     After  much  deliberation,  the 


118  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

proposition  of  the  Duke  of  Alva  prevailed,  viz.,  to 
bring  the  rebellious  subjects  to  obedience,  by  means  of 
a  well  disciplined  and  formidable  army.  In  advance, 
the  Duchess  was  advised  by  letter  to  strengthen  the 
army,  to  perplex  the  Council  of  State,  and  detain  it 
with  an  announcement  of  his  speedy  arrival.  Whilst 
these  deliberations  were  held  in  Spain,  the  Protestants 
made  the  largest  use  of  the  privileges  which  they  had 
extorted.  The  building  of  churches  advanced  with 
incredible  celerity.  Young  and  old,  nobles  and  com- 
mon folk  helped  carry  the  stones,  and  many  women 
parted  with  their  ornaments  in  order  to  expedite  the 
work.  They  instituted  their  own  Consistories,  their 
own  Church  Council,  and  collected  money  in  a  common 
treasury ;  but  the  picture  outrages,  far  from  promoting 
the  cause  of  the  League,  or  advancing  the  interests  of 
Protestantism,  had  inflicted  irreparable  injury  on  both. 
The  sight  of  their  ruined  churches,  which  looked  more 
like  stables  than  places  of  worship,  enraged  the  Catho- 
lics. All  Catholics  forthwith  forsook  the  League. 
The  severity  with  which  some  of  its  members  had  pro- 
ceeded against  the  iconoclasts,  in  order  to  ingratiate 
themselves  with  the  Duchess,  impaired  its  popularity. 
The  Duchess  availed  herself  of  this  misfortune,  in  order 
utterly  to  destroy  the  League.  The  great  part  of  the 
confederates  went  over  to  the  party  of  the  Duchess, 
who  employed  the  private  letters  which  the  King  had 
transmitted  through  her  to  some  of  the  nobles,  for  this 
purpose.  Among  those  who  received  such  private 
missives,  which  were  overflowing  with  expressions  of 
good  will,  were  Egmont  and  the  Prince  of  Orange. 
Egmont  allowed  himself  to  be  entirely  won  over  by  this 
means  to  the  interest  of  the  King;  but  the  Prince  was 
a  match  for  the  cunning  of  the  Spanish  King. 

The  court  of  this  most  mysterious  of  all  despots  had 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  119 

become  accessible  to  William's  tact  and  money ;  in  this 
way  he  had  secured,  in  her  own  hand-writing,  many 
letters  which  the  Duchess  had  secretly  written  to 
Madrid,  and  had  had  them  circulated  in  Brussels,  under 
her  own  eyes,  as  though  in  triumph.  William's  vigi-* 
lance  penetrated  even  into  the  French  cabinet.  An 
intercepted  letter  of  the  Spanish  Ambassador  in  France, 
Francis  of  Alara,  to  the  Duchess,  gave  him  the  most 
important  information.  In  this  letter  the  ambassador 
expatiated  on  the  splendid  opportunity  which  had  been 
given  to  the  King,  by  the  disloyal  conduct  of  the  people 
of  the  Netherlands,  to  establish  an  arbitrary  government 
in  their  country.  Therefore,  he  advised  her  to  deceive 
the  nobles  by  the  very  arts  which  they  had  employed 
up  to  this  time  against  her,  and  to  secure  them  by 
smooth  words  and  an  obliging  demeanour.  The  King, 
who  knew  the  nobles  well,  as  the  secret  springs  of  all 
the  troubles  up  to  this  period,  would  know  full  well 
where  to  find  them  at  the  right  time;  he  had  sworn  to 
make  an  example  of  them,  at  which  all  Christendom 
shovdd  stand  aghast,  even  if  he  imperilled  all  his  heredi- 
tary States  in  the  venture.  Orange  understood,  there- 
fore, perfectly,  what  to  make  of  the  fine  promises  of  the 
King. 

This  letter  of  Alara,  together  with  some  others  which 
gave  detailed  notice  of  the  near  approach  of  the  King 
with  an  armed  force,  and  of  his  evil  designs  against  the 
nobility,  the  Prince  communicated  to  his  brother,  Louis 
of  Nassau,  to  Counts  Egmont,  Hoorne,  and  Hochstraten. 
Count  Louis  proposed,  without  loss  of  time,  to  take  up 
arms,  secure  certain  fortresses,  dispute  the  armed  pass- 
age of  the  King  into  the  provinces,  arouse  Switzerland, 
the  Protestant  princes  in  Germany,  and  the  Hugonots, 
and  meet  him  on  the  borders  of  the  country  with  an 
imposing  arnjy.      But  WiUiam,  more  wary  and  wise, 


120  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

declared  against  the  proposal;  it  was  enough  to  keep  a 
watchful  eye,  and  give  the  people  a  hint  of  the  threat- 
ening peril.  Egmont  did  not  believe  Alara's  letter, 
trusted  the  flatteries  of  the  King,  and  the  Prince's  plan 
was  frustrated. 

Meanwhile,  the  Regent  called  in  the  troops  from 
Germany,  which  Erich,  Duke  of  Brunswick,  held  in 
readiness  for  her.  Every  stadtholder  was  obliged  to 
strengthen  his  military  force,  and  to  equip  it  with  all 
the  munitions  of  war.  Hereupon  she  changed  her 
demeanour,  and  spoke  to  the  rebels  a  very  different 
language.  The  freedom  accorded  to  the  Protestants 
was  interpreted  in  an  arbitrary  way;  their  religious 
usages  and  worship  were  declared  to,  be  prohibited; 
their  mode  of  baptism,  of  marriage,  of  burial,  was  for- 
bidden, under  pain  of  death;  several  Protestant  minis- 
ters were  hung.  At  a  general  Synod  of  the  Pro- 
testants, it  was  resolved  to  send  deputies  to  the  Regent 
to  remind  her  of  her  promises.  All  efforts  were  vain. 
She  gained  possession  of  every  city  in  which  there  were 
Protestants,  threw  a  strong  garrison  into  each  of  these 
towns,  and  struck  down  ail  resistance.  She  had  an 
oath  drawn  up,  by  which  people  were  pledged  to  pro- 
mote the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  to  persecute  the 
destroyers  of  pictures,  and  to  aid  in  the  extirpation 
of  heresies  of ,  all  sorts.  Nearly  all  took  this  oath; 
but  in  vain  was  the  attempt  made  to  induce  the  Prince 
of  Orange  to,  follow  their  example.  He  was  resolved 
to  renounce  the  service  of  the  King  of  Spain,  and 
to  leave  the  country  until  better  days.  A  depressing 
experience  had  taught  him  how  unsafe  the  hopes 
are  which  are  founded,  by  exigencies,  upon  the  masses, 
and  how  soon  the  zeal  which  promises  so  much,  is  dissi- 
pated when  actions  are  demanded  of  it. 

One  army  stood  ready  in  the  field,  and  a  still  larger 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  121 

one  approached,  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of 
Alva.  The  time  of  dissembling  was  past.  Only  at  the 
head  of  an  army  could  there  be  any  hope  to  make 
advantageous  treaties  with  the  Regent.  The  money 
requisite  for  such  an  army  was  wanting,  for  the  Pro- 
testants had  taken  back  their  boastful  promises.  Envy 
and  religious  animosity  separated  the  Lutherans  and 
the  Reformed,  and  members  were  daily  alienated  from 
the  League  by  the  arts  of  the  Duchess.  All  these 
things  induced  the  Prince  to  postpone  his  project,  to 
which  the  times  were  not  propitious,  to  a  more  auspi- 
cious hour.  The  Regent  sent  her  private  Secretary, 
Berti,  to  him  once  more,  to  induce  him  to  take  the 
oath,  and  when  Berti  found  he  could  not  prevail  on 
him,  he  hoped  to  secure,  through  Egmont's  eloquence, 
what  he  despaired  of  effecting  by  his  own.  He  pro- 
posed an  interview  with  Egmont,  to  which  the  Prince 
was  the  more  readily  persuaded,  as  he  was  himself 
desirous  to  embrace  his  friend  once  more  before  his 
departure,  and  snatch  the  blinded  nobleman,  if  possi- 
ble, from  the  sure  ruin  which  he  saw  impending.  This 
remarkable  interview,  the  last  which  the  two  friends 
ever  held,  took  place  in  Villebrok,  a  town  on  the  Rupel, 
between  Brussels  and  Antwerp.  Young  Count  Mans- 
feld  was  also  present  with  the  Secretary  Berti  at  this 
interview.  The  Reformed,  whose  last  hope  rested  on 
the  result  of  this  eftbrt,  had  found  means  to  learn  the 
substance  of  the  conversation  through  a  spy,  who  was 
concealed  in  the  chimney  of  the  room  in  which  it  was 
held.*  All  three  assailed  the  resolution  of  the  Prince 
with  united  eloquencse,  but  without  making  him  waver. 
"  It  will  cost  you  your  property.  Orange,  if  you  persist 
in  your  determination,"  said  the  Prince  of  Gavre, 
drawing  him  aside  to  a  window.  "And  you,  your  life, 
Egmont,"  replied  the    Prince,   "if   you   do   not   alter 

*  Motley  rejects  this  statement. 


122  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

yours."  Again  the  Prince  warned  his  friend,  and  when 
it  was  all  to  no  purpose,  filled  with  sorrow  and  disgust, 
he  exclaimed:  "Well,  be  it  so;  venture  it  on  the  grati- 
tude of  the  King.  But  a  sad  presentiment  tells  me, 
Egmont,  that  you  will  be  the  bridge  over  which  the 
Spaniards  will  pass  into  the  country,  and  which  they 
will  break  down  after  they  have  crossed!"  After  saying 
this,  he  drew  him  afi'ectionately  towards  him,  and 
embraced  him  with  deep  emotion.  For  a  long  time  he 
kept  his  eyes  fastened  upon  Egmont,  as  though  he  felt 
that  he  was  looking  at  him  for  the  last  time.  Tears 
trickled  down  his  cheeks.     They  never  met  again. 

On  the  very  next  day  the  Prince  of  Orange  wrote  a 
letter  of  respectful  farewell  to  the  Duchess,  and  went 
with  his  three  brothers  and  his  whole  family  to  his  city 
of  Breda,  where  he  had  some  private  affairs  to  arrange. 
His  oldest  son,  Prince  Philip  William,  alone  remained 
at  Lowen,  because  he  regarded  him  as  sufficiently  pro- 
tected by  the  Constitution  of  Brabant  and  the  immuni- 
ties of  the  Academy.  In  Breda  the  Reformed  appeared 
to  him  once  more  with  the  inquiry,  whether  there  was 
any  hope  left  for  them,  or  whether  all  was  lost,  without 
possibility  of  deliverance?  The  Prince  advised  them  to 
unite  with  the  Lutherans,  and  to  furnish  him  with  six 
hundred  thousand  gulden.  He  immediately  left  the 
Netherlands,  and  repaired  quietly  to  his  birthplace, 
Dillenburg,  in  Nassau.  Many  hundreds  accompanied 
him  to  Germany.  Counts  Hoogstraten,  Culemburg, 
and  Bergen  soon  followed  him.  The  nation  felt  that 
their  guardian  angel  was  gone..  The  last  prop  of  the 
Protestants  sank  with  him;  and  yet  they  depended 
more  upon  this  man  who  had  left  them,  than  upon  'all 
the  rest  who  had  remained. 

The  withd<i'a\tal  of  Egmont  and  the  flight  of  the 
Prince   of    Orange,    dissolved    the    Beggars'    Leagiie. 


THE   HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  123 

Each  one  vied  with  his  neighbour  in  forswearing  the 
old  compromise,  and  taking  the  new  oath  which  was 
offered.  In  vain  did  the  Protestant  merchants  exclaim 
against  this  breach  of  promise  on  the  part  of  the 
nobility ;  their  feeble  voice  was  not  heard,  and  all  the 
money  they  had  expended  on  the  enterprise  of  the 
League  was  lost.  Everything  yielded  to  the  fortune  of 
the  Duchess.  Her  victorious  armies  subdued  all  the 
cities.  Alva's  dreaded  approach  wrought  wonders.  A 
solemn  agreement  was  made  at  Antwerp,  by  which  the 
Reformed  worship  was  abolished,  all  preachers  were 
banished,  the  Romish  religion  was  reinstated  in  its 
former  dignity,  the  pillaged  churches  were  restored  in 
all  their  beauty,  the  new  oath  was  taken,  and  persons 
implicated  in  the  picture  riots  were  handed  over  to 
justice.  Forthwith  all  Protestant  preachers  were  com- 
manded, by  the  announcement  of  a  herald,  to  quit  the 
country  within  twenty-four  hours;  three  days  were 
allowed  to  such  as  belonged  to  the  Consistories.  All 
the  streets  were  crowded  with  fugitives.  Husbands 
bade  farewell  to  their  wives — fathers  took  leave  of  their 
children  for  ever.  On  the  10th  of  April,  1567,  the 
preachers  withdrew;  tears  flowed,  a  wail  of  sorrow 
arose,  and  the  parting  scene  was  touching. 

At  the  close  of  April  the  Protestant  preachers  had 
left,  all  the  schools  of  the  heretics,  all  their  churches, 
were  levelled  to  the  ground.  Out  of  the  rafters  of  the 
demolished  churches  gallows  were  erected;  all  the 
high  courts  of  law  were  filled  with  corpses,  all  the 
prisons  with  doomed  victims,  all  the  highways  with 
fugitives.  No  city  was  so  small  but,  during  this  year 
of  slaughter,  between  fifty  and  three  hundred  were  led 
forth  through  its  streets  to  execution,  to  say  nothing  of 
those  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  bailiffs  in  the  open 
country,   and   ivere    strung   up   like   robbers,   without 


124  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE  OF 

mercy  and  without  hearing.  In  Amsterdam,  the  num- 
ber of  the  fugitives  was  so  great,  that  vessels  could  not 
be  furnished  in  sufficient  numbers  to  transport  them 
over  the  North  and  South  Zee.  Germany  and  England 
were  crowded  with  refugees  from  the  Netherlands, 
and  who  retained,  wherever  they  settled,  their  man- 
ners and  customs,  and  even  their  costume,  because  it 
was  too  hard  for  them  to  be  altogether  alienated  from 
their  country,  and  to  give  up  all  hope  of  return.  Few 
brought  with  them  even  the  fragments  of  their  former 
wealth ;  by  far  the  greater  part  begged  their  way,  and 
enriched  their  new  abode  with  nothing  but  their  indus- 
try and  skilful  hands. 

And  yet,  all  this  was  but  the  beginning  of  sorrows. 
Notwithstanding  the  assurance  of  the  Regent,  that 
tranquillity  was  perfectly  restored,  the  minister  Gran- 
vella,  the  Cardinal  Grand  Inquisitor,  Spinosa,  and  the 
Duke  of  Alva,  insisted  that  the  Spanish  army  should 
enter  the  Netherlands.  With  the  remnant  of  the  vic- 
torious legions,  at  whose  head  Charles  V.  had  made 
Europe  tremble,  the  Duke  of  Alva,  a  blood-thirsty 
fanatic,  set  sail  from  Carthagena,  May  5,  1567,  and 
within  eight  days  landed  at  Genoa,  and  thence  pushed 
forward  in  three  columns  over  Mount  Cenis,  by  the 
same  road  over  which  Hannibal  is  said  to  have  passed 
eighteen  hundred  years  before.  The  army  crossed  the 
Piedmontese  Alps,  in  easy  dp,y's  marches.  As  it  clam- 
bered over  the  steep  and  slippery. rocks,  up  and  down 
the  mountains,  crossed  the  foaming  Iser,  or  in  single 
file  threaded  the  narrow  ravines,  a  handful  of  men 
would  have  sufficed  to  delay  its  march,  to  drive  it 
back  on  the  mountains,  and  without  any  trouble '  to 
have  secured  its  overthrow.  The  Prince  of  Conde  and 
Admiral  Coligny,  in  fact,-  besought  Charles  IX.  not  to 
lose  so  favourable  an  opportunity  to  inflict  a  deadly 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  125 

wound  on  the  hereditary  foe  of  France ;  they  promised 
to  support  him  with  fifty  thousand  Hugonots,  Swiss 
and  Germans.  But  this  offer,  whose  dangerous  pur- 
pose was  not  to  be  misconstrued,  was  declined.  The 
advance  moved  on  without  resistance,  and  under  the 
strictest  discipline.  A  terrible  star  of  prosperity  guided 
this  army  on  its  way  to  slaughter,  along  the  borders  of 
Dauphiny  and  the  course  of  the  Rhone,  through  Lor- 
raine, Franche  Comte  in  Luxemburg,  where  newly 
levied  squadrons  of  Burgundian  cavalry,  and  three 
German  regiments  of  infantry,  joined  the  main  army. 
From  Thionville,  where  the  13uke  halted  a  few  days,  he 
sent  greetings  to  the  Duchess.  Crowds  of  Flemish 
nobles  appeared  in  the  Spanish  camp  to  congratulate 
the  Duke  on  his  arrival.  As  Count  Egmont  approached 
among  them,  Alva  pointed  him  out  to  the  by-standers 
with  the  words,  "  flere  comes  a  great  heretic."  Egmont 
heard  the  remark  and  changed  colour.  When  the 
Duke,  in  order  to  gloss  over  his  imprudence,  ap- 
proached him  with  a  cheerful  countenance  and  greeted 
him  with  a  friendly  embrace,  the  Fleming  laughed  at 
this  ominous  hint.  The  near  approach  of  this  army 
had  already  deprived  the  provinces  of  a  hundred  thou- 
sand citizens,  but  now  still  greater  terror  and  anxiety 
preceded  his  advance.  Whoever  could  tear  himself 
away  from  family,  property,  and  fatherland,  betook 
himself  to  flight.  The  22d  of  August  was  the  day  on 
which  Alva  stood  before  the  gates  of  Brussels.  His 
army  was  immediately  quartered  in  the  suburbs;  in 
person  he  handed  over  his  instructions  to  the  Duchess, 
in  which  he  was  empowered  to  conduct  the  war  accord- 
ing to  his  own  pleasure,  to  erect  fortresses,  to  nominate 
or  depose  the  stadtholders,  commanders,  and  all  officials, 
to  inqure  into  the  disturbances,  to  punish  the  ring- 
leaders, and  to  jeward  the  loyal.     The  Spanish  tyranny 


126  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

planted  its  standard  upon  the  Culemburg  palace, 
where  the  Beggar's  League  had  been  formed.  The 
stillness  of  death  reigned  in  Brussels,  broken  at  times 
only  by  the  sound  of  arms.  Like  bloodhounds,  the 
followers  of  the  Duke  scattered  in  all  directions.  Alva 
hastened  to  the  execution  of  his  plans.  By  means  of  a 
simulated  friendliness,  he  lulled  the  first  emotions  of 
terror,  and  cradled  the  nobles  and  people  into  their  for- 
mer sleep  of  security.  Counts  Egmont  and  Hoorne, 
and  some  others  of  the  nobles,  soon  began  to  go  back  to 
their  former  life  of  pleasure.  The  Culemburg  house 
was  constantly  besieged  by  vast  numbers.  Meanwhile 
the  Duke  was  employing  this  security  for  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  purposes.  He  assembled  all  the  Coun- 
cils of  State  and  Knights,  as  though  he  wished  to  con- 
sult them  respecting  the  affairs  of  the  State. 

At  the  close  of  the  deliberation.  Count  Egmont  was 
preparing  to  return  to  the  chambers  of  the  Duke's  son, 
Don  Ferdinand,  in  order  to  resume  a  game  which  he 
had  begun,  when  the  Comman'der  of  the  Body-guard 
stepped  up  to  him,  and,  in  the  name  of  the  King, 
demanded  his  sword.  At  the  same  time,  he  found 
himself  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  Spanish  soldiers. 
This  demand,  so  sudden  and  unexpected,  affected  him 
so  deeply,  that  for  a  few  moments  he  lost  the  power  of 
speech  and  self-control;  but  he  soon  rallied,  and  calmly 
taking  the  sword  from  his  side,  handed  it  to  the 
Spaniard,  with  the  words,  "This  steel  has  more  than 
once  done  good  service  to  the  King."  At  the  same 
time  another  Spanish  officer  arrested  Count  Hoorne, 
whose  first  inquiry  was  concerning  Egmont.  Upon 
being  told  that  his  friend  _had  just  been  served  in' the 
same  way,  he  surrendered  without  resistance.  "I 
allowed  myself'to  be  led  by  him,"  he  exclaimed,  "and 
it  is  just  that  I  share  his  fate!" 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  127 

This  occurrence  terrified  all  the  inhabitants;  they 
bewailed  the  blindness  of  Egmont  and  Hoorne,  and 
rejoiced  that  the  Prince  of  Orange  had  escaped  the 
snare.  It  is  said,  that  the  first  question  of  Cardinal 
Granvella,  when  this  news  was  brought  to  him  at 
Rome,  was,  "Have  you  the  silent  one  alsof  and 
when  told  that  they  had  not,  he  shook  his  head,  and 
replied,  "  Then  you  have  gained  nothing,  if  you  have 
let  the  Silent  One  escape!"  The  rumour  of  this  event 
met  Count  Hoogstraten  on  the  road  to  Brussels;  he 
turned  back  in  all  haste,  and  escaped  the  /  snare.  At 
the  news  of  Egmont's  arrest,  twenty  thousand  citizens 
took  up  the  pilgrim's  staff.  No  one  regarded  himself 
as  safe,  after  an  attack  had  been  made  upon  the  life  of 
one  so  guiltless  as  Egmont.  The  Duke  threw  obstacles 
in  the  way  of  escape;  he  blocked  the  harbours,  and 
forbade  emigration,  under  pain  of  death.  Forthwith, 
the  Inquisition  was  introduced  in  all  its  pomp;  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  were  enforced;  the  law 
of  toleration  was  abolished,  and  the  decrees  against 
heretics  were  reinstated  with  all  their  former  severity. 
The  Spanish  Inquisition  had  declared  the  entire  nation 
of  the  Netherlands  guilty  in  the  highest  degree,  laesae 
7najestatis,  Catholics  and  heretics,  loyalists  an.d  rebels 
alike;  the  one  because  they  had  transgressed  in  deed, 
the  other  because  they  had  acquiesced;  and  this  judg- 
ment the  King  had  confirmed  by  a  public  manifesto. 
Thus  the  property  and  lives  of  all  were  in  the  hands  of 
Alva. 

That  he  might  be  the  better  prepared  for  his  bloody 
work,  he  institute^  a  criminal  court,  composed  of 
twelve  Justices,  who  should  inquire  concerning  the 
former  disturbances,  and  pass  judgment  according 
to  the  letter  of  their  instructions.  From  the  Coun- 
cil   of    Twelve,    which    was    called,    also,    from    the 


128  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

object  to  which  it  was  directed,  the  Council  of  the 
Insurrection,  and  the  Bloody  Council,  on  account  of  its 
cruelty,  a  name  given  to  it  by  the  exasperated  nation, 
and  by  which  it  is  most  commonly  known,  there  was 
no  appeal ;  no  revision  of  its  processes  was  allowed. 
All  whom  this  Council  saw  fit  to  summon  were  obliged 
to  appear.  Whoever  did  not  appear,  as  scarcely  any 
one  did,  was  outlawed,  and  his  property  was  confis- 
cated; but  if  any  one  answered  the  summons,  or  was 
in  any  way  arrested,  he  was  lost  beyond  recovery. 
Twenty,  forty,  and  fifty  were  frequently  demanded  at 
once  out  of  one  city,  and  the  wealthiest  were  the  most 
exposed  to  this  fate.  Many  respectable  merchants,  who 
possessed  property  to  the  amount  of  sixty  or  a  hundred 
thousand  guldi,  could  be  seen,  their  hands  bound  upon 
their  backs,  dragged  at  a  horse's  tail  to  the  place  of 
slaughter,  and  the  heads  of  fifty  were  often  struck  off, 
one  after  another,  at  a  single  execution.  All  the 
prisons,  of  which  the  Duke,  immediately  upon  his 
arrival,  had  ordered  a  large  number  to  be  built,  were 
crammed  full  of  delinquents.  Hanging,  beheading, 
quartering,  burning,  were  the  ordinary  modes  of  execu- 
tion. Immense  sums  fell  into  the  treasury,  but  these 
rather  whetted  than  satiated  the  avarice  of  the  Duke 
and  his  assistants.  His  insane  determination  seemed  to 
be  to  make  the  Netherlands  a  nation  of  beggars. 
These  confiscations  are  said  to  have  brought  a  revenue 
to  the  King  of  twenty  million  ducats. 

William  of  Orange  had  foreseen  all  these  deplorable 
occurrences  which  devastated  the  beautiful  and  flourish- 
ing Netherlands,  and  changed-  them  into  a  gloomy 
wilderness,  void  of  human  life,  over  which  a  destroying 
angel  hovered  with  his  dark  wings.  Not  merely  for 
his  own  saf&ty  4iad  he  escaped.  He  was  still,  though 
at  a  distance,  the  deliverer  of  his  countrymen.     His 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  129 

determination  to  put  an  end  to  this  tyranny  was  firm 
and  unshaken.     No  means  were  left  untried  to  accom- 
plish the  great  work  of  liberation.    The  first  path  which 
he  attempted  was  that  of  conciliation  and  peace.     He 
induced  the  Emperor,  the  German  Princes,  the  King  of 
France,  the  Queen  of  England,  all  the  great  and  mighty, 
to  besiege  King  Philip  with  entreaties  to  grant  recon- 
ciliation, peace,  and  the  mitigation  of  this  despotism. 
But  the  answer  was,  "The  King  would  listen  to  such 
proposals  only  when  the  Prince  was  given  up  into  the 
hands  of  the  Duke  of  Alva."    The  Prince  then  resolved 
to  kill  Alva.      This  attempt  upon  the  person  of  the 
tyrant  was  committed  to  a  Baron  Rysoir.     His  brother 
Carlo,  of  the  house  of  Root,  disguised  himself  in  a 
monk's  hood,  and  went  into  the  monastery  of  Groene- 
dal,  near  Brussels,  whither  the  Duke  went  on  fast  days 
to  perform  his  devotions.     Seven  hundred  cavalry  were 
stationed  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  monastery,  and 
five  hundred  infantry  were   quartered  in   and  around 
Brussels ;  but  the  attempt  failed,  a  soldier  detected  him 
and  informed  the  Duke.      There  was  now  no    other 
recourse  left,  but  to  overcome  him  in  a  regular  war. 
The  Prince  collected  an  army,  and  determined  to  attack 
the  tyrant  on  three  sides  at  once.     Count  Montigni  was 
directed  to  assemble  his  corps  in  Jiilich,  and  thence  to 
fall  upon  Alva,  through  Roermond.     Baron  Coqueville, 
of  Normandy,  gathered  an  army  of  French  and  Dutch 
on  the  borders  of  Artois,  and  Louis,  Count  of  Nassau, 
was  to  invade  Friesland.     The  troops  in  Jiilich  rendez- 
voused in  silence,  without  arms.    These  were  to  be  sent 
forward,  afterwards^  but  Duke  Alva  was  apprised  of 
the  movement,  and  despatched  Santio  Davila  with  a 
sufficient  body  of  Spaniards  and  Walloons.     Montigni 
was  attacked  by  this  force  at  Dalen,  and  was  himself 
taken    prisoner.       This    Spaniard    committed    fearful 
9  '    . 


130  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

ravages  in  Jiilich.  All  Protestants  were  objects  of  his 
wrath.  Their  property  was  plundered,  their  houses 
were  burned,  their  wives  and  daughters  violated;  the 
dead  were  dug  out  of  their  graves,  and  hung  up.  The 
details  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Church  at 
Waldenkirchen,  of  these  scenes  of  abomination,  are 
enough  to  make  the  reader  shudder. 

Baron  Coqueville  Normand  made  some  progress  with 
his  army  on  the  borders  of  Artois;  but  the  King  of 
France,  who  was  still  in  debt  to  the  Duke,  was  requested 
to  disperse  this  force.  The  King  commanded  Marshal 
Cosse  to  proceed  against  Coqueville  with  the  garrisons 
of  Piccardy.  Coqueville  retired  to  the  small  town  of 
Vallery,  near  Abbeville,  and  defended  himself  for  a 
long  time;  but  he  was  at  length  overwhelmed  by 
superior  numbers,  and  forced  to  surrender.  He  was 
beheaded  with  his  adherents. 

Count  Louis,  of  Nassau,  penetrated  Friesland,  and 
took  it  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy.  Duke  Alva, 
in  alarm,  gathered  all  his  forces,  and  sent  Count 
Aremberg  in  advance,  to  prevent  all  farther  progress. 
Louis  retreated  as  though  he  had  been  outgeneralled ; 
but  suddenly  he  took  his  stand  in  a  position  between 
Heiliger  See  and  Wynschoten,  where  a  bloody  battle 
was  fought.  May  24th.  Aremberg  was  beaten.  Sixteen 
hundred  dead  were  left  on  the  field.  Among  them  was 
Count  Aremberg  and  Count  Adolphus,  the  brother  of 
Louis.  All  the  baggage  of  Aremberg's  army,  his  silver 
plate,  and  miUtary  chest,  fell  into  the  possession  of  the 
conqueror.  Count  Louis  pursued  the  enemy,  who  threw 
himself  into  Groningen.  Grohingen  was  besieged;  but 
as  the  Count  was  in  want,  of  heavy  artillery,  he  cotild 
do  no  more  than  closely  invest  the  city.  Enraged  by 
this  victory  of  the  Count,  ^  the  Duke  ordered  all  the 
nobles  who  were  in  prison  to  be  beheaded,  and  their 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  131 

heads  and  bodies  to  be  exposed  along  the  highway  on 
poles,  where  they  rotted.  Egmont  and  Hoorne  also 
received  their  sentence. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1568,  Egmont  wrote  another 
letter  to  the  King,  imploring  forgiveness,  commended 
his  wife  and  children  to  his  care,  and  having  mounted 
the  scaffold  at  the  market-place  in  Brussels,  read  the 
fifty-first  psalm  at  the  side  of  the  Bishop.  After  pacing 
up  and  down  several  times,  he  asked  the  executioner  if 
there  was  no  reprieve.  On  being  told  there  was  none, 
he  gnashed  his  teeth,  threw  aside  his  cloak,  kneeled 
upon  the  cushion,  gave  the  signal  to  the  executioner, 
drew  his  cap  over  his  eyes,  and  said,  "Father,  into  thy 
hands  I  commend  my  spirit."  The  result  justified  the 
Warning  of  the  Prince  of  Orange.  In  the  same  way, 
and  at  the  same  time,  Hoorne  was  executed.  Their 
heads  were  exposed  to  the  people,  on  poles,  for  two 
hours.  Their  death  awakened  universal  sorrow.  The 
citizens  of  Brussels  dipped  their  handkerchiefs  in  the 
blood  of  these  beheaded  nobles,  as  a  memento. 

Immediately  afterwards,  the  Duke  of  Alva  marched, 
w^ith  a  powerful  army,  to  the  relief  of  Groningen. 
Count  Louis  retreated  before  this  overwhelming  force, 
but  the  Duke  came  up  with  him  at  Jemmingen,  and 
defeated  him.  Count  Louis  gathered  the  wrecks  of  his 
scattered  army  as  well  as  he  could,  and  went  into  Ger- 
many to  his  brother,  who  was  marching  to  his  assistance 
with  a  large  force.  His  brother's  disaster  distressed 
the  Prince  of  Orange  greatly;  but  his  courage,  and  the 
desire  to  avenge  it,  rose  in  the  same  degree.  He  now 
issued  a  formal  declaration  of  war  against  the  tyrant, 
published  a  printed  manifesto,  in  which  ^e  detailed  the 
abominations  of  which  Alva  was  guilty,  and  invoked  the 
help  and  protection  of  the  Princes  of  Germany.  With 
a  powerful  army,  the  Prince  marched  down  along  the 


132  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

banks  of  the  Rhine,  pitched  his  camp  below  Cleves, 
and  offered  battle  to  the  Duke.  Terrified  by  the  power 
and  heroic  boldness  of  the  Prince,  and  oppressed  with 
horror  of  the  scenes  of  murder  which  flitted  before  his 
memory,  like  terrible  apparitions  of  the  dead,  he  did 
not  venture  to  join  battle  with  the  Prince,  but  deter- 
mined to  wage  a  defensive  war,  to  wear  out  his  adver- 
sary by  petty  skirmishes,  and  to  cut  off,  or  at  least  em- 
barrass, his  supplies.  The  Prince  defeated  several  corps 
of  the  Duke's  army,  but  could  not  bring  him  to  a 
general  engagement.  After  holding  a  position  for 
some  time  between  the  Mouse  and  the  Rhine,  he 
marched  along  the  banks  of  the  Mouse  up  to  Liittich, 
where  he  had  expected  to  meet  some  reinforcements; 
but  owing  to  the  precautions  of  the  Bishop  at  that  place, 
the  Orange  party  did  not  dare  show  itself.  The  citi- 
zens of  Liittich  had,  in  fact,  formed  a  corps  to  defend 
their  city  against  the  Prince,  and  they  almost  succeeded 
in  exciting  a  mutiny  in  his  army.  In  spite  of  all  the 
efforts  of  the  Duke  to  impede  the  Prince's  passage  over 
the  Mouse,  his  army  crossed  the  river,  and  came  near 
surprising  the  Duke  with  his  troops.  The  Prince  was 
obliged  to  rest  his  army,  which  had  waded  across,  and 
was  drenched  with  water;  the  Duke  took  advantage  of 
this,  and  fled  to  Maestricht.  The  next  day  the  Prince 
pursued  him,  and  appeared  before  the  city  in  order  of 
battle,  but  in  vain.  He  captured  some  towns,  and  led 
his  army  through  Thiene,  still  indulging  the  hope  that 
he  could  provoke  the  Duke  to  a  battle.  When  he 
found  all  his  endeavours  fruitless,  not  wishing  to  spend 
time  to  no  purpose,  he  determined  to  march  into 
France  to  the  aid  of  the .  Hugonots,  who,  immediately 
after  Duke  Casimir's  departure  from  France,  had 
become  involved  in  the"  third  civil  war.  Duke  Alva 
followed   him    in   the   distance,   and   endeavoured    to 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  133 

thwart  his  purpose ;  the  Prince  turned  upon  him,  and 
for  the  last  time  offered  him  battle ;  but  he  was  able  to 
reach  only  a  few  corps,  which  he  put  to  rout.  He  then 
proceeded  quietly  on  his  way  to  France,  and  proposed 
to  unite  his  forces  with  the  Hugonot  array  under 
Conde,  but  his  troops  refused  their  consent;  they 
insisted  that  their  oath  obliged  them  only  to  fight 
against  the  tyrant  Alva,  and  not  against  the  King 
of  France ;  and  besides,  they  demanded  their  arrears  of 
pay.  No  encouragement,  entreaties,  promises,  or 
threats,  could  pacify  the  soldiers.  The  Prince  saw 
himself  obliged  to  lead  his  army  through  Champagne 
and  Lorraine  to  Strasburg.  Here  he  sold  his  artillery 
and  baggage,  and  paid  his  troops  as  far  as  he  could. 
The  army  dispersed.  Many  became  thieves  and 
robbers;  many  died  from  hunger  and  exposure;  and 
only  a  few  cavalry  adhered  to  the  fortunes  of  the 
Prince. 

Thus  disastrously  ended  this  attempt  of  the  Prince  to 
give  freedom  to  the  Netherlands.  The  exultation  of  the 
Duke  was  unbounded,  and  the  thank-otfering  which  he 
made  to  his  God,  was  the  vow,  that  he  would  rage  still 
more  inhumanly  against  the  Protestants  and  utterly 
exterminate  them.  The  devastation  which  he  commit- 
ted was  frightful,  and  the  distress  which  ensued  was 
indescribable.  The  emigrations  to  England  were  so 
numerous  that  whole  cities  grew  out  of  them.  The 
refugees  built  Norwich,  Sandwich,  Colchester,  Maid- 
stone, and  Hampton,  and  introduced  the  manufactures, 
which  are  now  so  flourishing  there.  Pope  Pius  V. 
sent  to  the  Duke  a;.*  consecrated  sword,  garnished  with 
gold,  and  a  holy  hat  of  great  value.  He  was  honoured 
with  a  solemn  triumph  in  Brussels. 

The  Prince  of  Orange,  nothing  daunted  by  the 
failure  of  his  .first  attempts,  revolved  in  his  mind  new 


13  J:  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE  OF 

plans  to  drive  the  barbarians  from  the  country  and 
assist  the  oppressed  Netherlands,  Immediately  after 
the  dispersion  of  his  army,  he  went  with  his  brother 
and  the  Prince  of  Deuxponts,  attended  by  the  remnant 
of  the  cavalry  which  had  remained  faithful  to  him,  to 
aid  the  Hugonots  and  the  King  of  Navarre.  Many  and 
valuable  services  were  rendered  by  these  heroes  to  the 
Protestants  of  that  country.  The  battle  of  Moncontour 
is  an  abiding  memorial  of  the  valour  of  Count  Louis  of 
Nassau.  In  the  winter  of  1568  and  1569  the  Prince 
returned  to  his  paternal  city,  Dillenburg,  in  Germany. 
On  the  way  thither,  as  he  travelled  through  France, 
Netherland  refugees  came  to  him  from  all  sides,  and 
offered  him  their  services  and  property  to  save  their 
country.  The  Admiral  of  France,  Count  Chatillon, 
had  advised  him  to  wage  war  against  Alva,  not  only  on 
land,  but  on  the  sea  also,  because  the  ports  of  the 
Netherlands  were  without  garrisons,  and  the  genius  of 
the  nation  was  adapted  to  navigation,  and  by  this 
means  he  would  have  the  best  opportunity  to  obtain 
money  in  abundance.  At  once  the  Prince  took  mea- 
sures for  a  naval  war,  and  issued  letters-of-marque  to 
the  boldest  and  most  experienced  sailors.  Forthwith 
some  ships  were  equipped,  and  several  more  were  cap- 
tured. They  had  their  harbours  on  the  coast  of  Eng- 
land, at  Hochelle  in  France,  on  the  Elbe,  the  Ems,  and 
the  Vlie  in  Holland.  The  richest  ships  fell  a  prey  to 
them.  Money  in  abundance  flowed  into  the  hands  of 
the  adventurers.  True,  these  privateers  at  first  com- 
mitted many  excesses;  but  the, Prince  soon  introduced 
more  order,  and  disciplined  an  efficient  navy.  Alva 
equipped  some  ships  against  them,  and  requested  the 
Queen  of  England  to  close  her  ports  against  these 
pirates^  or  "'Wliter-beggars,'^'  as  they  were  called  in 
those    days.      The  ,  Queen    did    this;    but    this    very 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  135 

prohibition   compelled   the   "Sea-beggars"  to    capture 
Briel. 

The  means  had  now  been  discovered  to  break  the 
yoke  of  Spanish  tyranny  in  the  Netherlands.  The 
"fleets  furnished  supplies  to  a  large  number  of  soldiers 
and  marines,  and  the  Prince  was  not  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  disbanding  his  forces  through  want  of 
money.  INIoney  and  men  he  had  in  abundance.  In  his 
last  disastrous  campaign  he  had  learned  that  he  could 
accomplish  nothing  without  fortified  places,  and  he 
determined,  therefore,  to  seize  some  seaports  and  border 
cities.  His  plan  was  directed  to  the  cities  of  Oberyssel, 
Camp,  Deventer,  Dwolle,  Ziitphen,  Utrecht,  Amster- 
dam, Enkhuysen,  Hoorn,  Dordrecht,  and  the  cities 
along  the  inland  seas.  In  all  these  cities  he  obtained 
strong  support. 

The  conduct  of  Alva,  who  demanded  the  tenth, 
twentieth,  and  the  hundredth  penny,  produced  the  effect, 
that  all  deserted  him,  and  went  over  to  the  Prince.  In 
a  short  time,  Vliessingen,  Zeeland,  Rotterdam,  Enkhuy- 
sen, and  other  cities  were  in  his  possession.  The  Por- 
tuguese fleet,  the  Spanish  ships,  Texel,  and  the  Zuyder 
See,  fell  into  the  power  of  the  Prince.  The  foundation 
of  liberty  was  laid.  At  the  peace  of  Munster  and 
Osnabruck,  1648,  the  Seven  Provinces  were  recognised 
as  an  independent  republic.  To  the  Prince  they  were 
indebted  for  their  freedom.  No  wonder  that  the 
Provinces  loved  the  Prince  and  all  the  German  Protest- 
ant Princes  with  enthusiasm,  and  that  they  adopted  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  and  introduced  it  as  a  symbolical 
book,  even  had  thei;e  been  no  other  reason  than  simply 
that  it  came  to  them  from  their  German  brethren  and 
deliverers. 

There  was  another  reason,  however,  and  this  was, 
that  they  had  jio  catechisms  of  their  own,  and  that  they 


136  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

found  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  the  best  adapted  to 
their  system.  The  Walloon,  or  French  congregations, 
had  for  many  years  used  Calvin's  catechism.  The 
German  congregations  at  first  used  the  large  catechism 
of  Embde,  which  John  Utenhoven  had  translated  into 
Dutch;  and  besides  this,  they  employed  the  small 
catechism  of  Martin  Micronius ;  but  no  sooner  had  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  made  its  appearance,  than  they 
adopted  this  as  the  common  text-book,  and  laid  alside 
all  others.  In  a  synodical  assembly  in  1568,  it  was 
introduced  as  an  acknowledged  text-book,  and  at  all 
subsequent  ecclesiastical  conventions  this  resolution 
was  confirmed.  Finally,  at  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  in 
1619,  it  was  solemnly  declared  to  be  an  acknowledged 
symbolical  book  of  the  Churches  of  the  Netherlands. 
From  this  time  forth,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was 
also  called  the  Belgian,  because  it  was  adopted  in  this 
church  as  a  recognised  norm  of  doctrine.  Hence  the 
mistake  of  some  learned  men,  who  suppose  that  there 
was  a  difference  between  the  Belgian  Catechism  and 
that  of  the  Palatinate. 

During  the  period  in  which  the  Arminian  controver- 
sies excited  so  much  attention  in  the  Netherlands,  a 
catechism  was  published  with  the  title,  "  Korte  onderwy- 
singe  der  kinderen  in  de  Christelyke  religie,  Gedrukt 
tot  Dienst  von  de  Jeucht  ter  Goude.  1607."  It  is 
short.  Seven  a,lphabets,  printed  in  .letters  of  various 
kinds,  together  with  a  course  of  syllables  as  an  intro- 
duction to  spelling  and  reading,  constitute  the  Intro- 
duction. At  the  end,  the  prayers  out  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  are  appended.  It  is  somewhat  like  an 
extract  from  this  Catechism,  and  treats  in  three  chap- 
ters of  man's  misery,  deliverance,  and  thankfulness. 
The  circumstanbes  which  ^gave  rise  to  it  were  the 
following:    The   magistrates   of    Gouda   would    never 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  137 

allow  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  to  be  explained  from 
their  pulpits,  because  it  was  a  human  production.  They 
would  not  have  it  used  in  the  schools,  because  it  con- 
tained some  controverted  points,  hard  to  be  understood, 
which  even  adults,  to  say  nothing  of  children,  could 
hardly  comprehend.  In  order,  therefore,  that  the  youth 
might  no  longer  be  deprived  of  instruction,  a  catechism 
of  their  own  was  prepared,  and  the  magistrates  were 
requested  to  allow  it  to  be  used  in  the  schools  for  this 
purpose.  At  first  it  was  not  printed,  but  only  copied; 
but  the  necessity  of  preparing  so  large  a  number  of 
these  copies,  induced  its  being  put  in  print.  James 
Arminius  was  suspected  of  being  its  author;  but  he 
declared  in  a  letter  to  Conrad  Vorst,  that  the  preachers 
in  Gouda  had  prepared  it,  and  had  merely  advised 
with  him  in  relation  to  it.  Scarcely  had  it  made  its 
appearance  in  print,  before  the  preachers  at  Gouda  were 
called  to  account  for  it  at  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  and 
received  a  public  rebuke.  It  was  resolved,  at  the  same 
time,  to  request  the  magistrates  and  Church  Council 
not  to  adopt  it,  but  to  introduce  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism. 

It  was  contended,  that  the  most  important  articles  of 
faith  were  either  left  out,  or  were  treated  too  generally 
in  this  Catechism,  so  that  heretical  opinions  might  be 
concealed  in  it.  Sibr.  Lubbertus*  wrote  in  a  bitter 
style  to  John  von  Oldenbarnevelt,  that  the  Catechism 
of  Gouda  was  so  framed,  that  Servetus  himself,  were  he 
to  come  to  life  again,  could  subscribe  to  it;  and  that  the 
whole  affair  showed  that  it  had  been  gotten  up  accord- 


*  Sibr.  Lubbertus  ■wrote:  Catechismus  Goudensis  pra^cipua  doctrinte  capita 
tollit,  vel  saltern  omittit.  Csetera  qutv;  retinuit,  ita  ekplicat,  ut  Servetus,  si 
reviviscat,  sit  illis  libenter  subscripturus.  •  Res  ipsa  docet,  auctorein  Cate- 
chismi  omnia  ad  imitationem  Fausti  Socini,  Ciui  est  geuuinus  Serveti  disci- 
pulus  censuisse. 


138  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

ing  to  Faustus  Socinus,  who  was  the  genuine  disciple 
of  Servetus.  He  addressed  a  sharp  criticism  on  this 
Catechism,  in  this  letter  to  Oldenbarnevelt.  Reynier 
Donteklock  wrote  publicly  against  the  Catechism  of 
Gouda.  His  treatise  is  entitled,  "  Proeve  des  Goufchen 
Catechismi,  ofte  korte  onderwysinge  in  de  Christelyke 
religie,  tot  Warschuwinge  von  andere  steden  ende 
schadelike  nieuwicheden  in  saecken  de  Leere  ende 
religie  angaende.  Geschreven  door  Reginald  Donte- 
clok,  oudt  Dienaer  des  heyligen  Evangelii  tot  Delft. 
8vo."  The  author  does  justice  to  the  Catechism,  de- 
clares that  nothing  false,  or  contrary  to  the  Divine  word, 
was  contained  in  it,  but  he  censures  it,  because  the 
design  was,  by  means  of  it,  to  exclude  the  Heidelberg, 
or  Palatinate  Catechism;  he  gives  his  warning  against 
it,  because  it  proceeded  from  the  suspected  teachers  of 
Gouda ;  because  it  had  probably  been  prepared  at  Ley- 
den  by  Arminius,  or  his  assistants ;  because  it  does  not 
treat  explicitly  of  original  sin,  justification,  and  the 
subsistence  of  both  natures  in  the  Person  of  Christ, 
etc.;  and  he  censures  it  farther,  because  it  aimed  at 
uniting  all  parties  in  Christendom,  and  because  all 
heresies  and  errors  might  be  concealed  in  its  contents. 

Several  other  excellent  Catechisms  were  prepared  by 
learned  men  in  the  Netherlands,  but  even  they  could 
not  displace  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  John  Ghes- 
chalius  wrote  a  Catechism  in  rhyme.;  Christian  Scho- 
tanus — First  Elements  of  Theology^ — Groningen,  1653; 
Peter  Doulignon,  Christian  Instruction,  Amsterdam, 
1682;  John  de  Bruine,  First  Principles  of  the  Divine 
Word,  a  learned  and  capital  book,  in  questions  and 
answers,  Hague,  1707;  Philip  Marnix,  a  learned  Bur- 
gomaster at  Antwerp,  also  published  a  Catechism. 

The  renovvnecl  and  beloved  French  preacher  at  the 
Hague,  James  Sauriri,  wrote;  in  1722,  in  the  French 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  139 

language,  An  Analysis  of  Christian  Theology  and 
Christian  Morality,  in  the  form  of  a  Catechism.  In 
the  following  year,  Doctor  Christian  Frederic  Boer- 
ner  translated  it,  and  it  was  afterwards  translated 
into  German,  by  C.  F.  Gellert.  This  excellent  Cate- 
chism consists  of  three  parts.  The  first  part  treats,  in 
fourteen  sections,  of  Natural  Religion,  of  God,  his 
Attributes  and  Providence;  the  second  developes,  in 
seventy-five  sections,  the  necessity  of  Revelation,  and 
its  agreement  with  natural  religion  and  of  the  duties 
toward  God,  our  neighbour,  and  ourselves.  The  thiid 
part  contains  the  proof  that  Revelation  proceeds  from 
God,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  true  Messiah.  The 
fourteenth  and  last  section  of  this  part  is  a  resume 
of  the  whole  work,  and  a  presentation  of  the  true 
Christian  and  the  Church.  This  Catechism  has  a  pecu- 
liar excellence  in  this,  that  here  and  there,  observations 
are  addressed  to  the  catechists,  which  serve  partly  to 
explain  the  subjects  which  are  discussed,  and  partly  to 
admonish  them  to  make  these  truths  practical.  Still 
neither  this  work,  nor  any  other,  was  able  to  supersede 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism;  once  introduced,  to  this  day 
it  has  maintained  its  place. 

The  praiseworthy  zeal  with  which  the  Reformed 
Church  of  the  Xctherlands  provided  for  the  instruction 
of  youth  and  of  adults  is  noteworthy.  At  the  Synod  of 
Dordrecht,  a  rule  was  inserted  in  the  revised  Church 
Order,  Article  XXI.  and  LXVIII.,  that  the  Consisto- 
ries should  see  to  it,  that  competent  teachers  were  every 
where  appointed,  who  should  be  able  to  teach  the  chil- 
dlen,  not  only  reading  and  w^riting,  languages  and 
sciences,  but  also  the  fear  of  God,  and^the  Catechism; 
and  also  that  the  pastors  of  churches  should  explain  on 
the  afternoon  of  each  Lord's  day,  in  all  the  churches, 
the  substance-  of  Christian  doctrine  as  taught  in  the 


140  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Heidelberg  Catechism,  so  that,  in  accordance  with  the 
arrangement  in  Lord's  days,  they  might  present  it  com- 
pletely every  year.  This  rule  was  repeated  at  every 
ecclesiastical  convention.  Festus  Hommius,  who  wrote 
a  Harmony  of  the  Belgic  Synods,  expresses  himself  on 
this  subject  as  follows: 

"The  custom  of  catechising  is  derived  from  the 
apostles,  and  must  be  observed  in  all  the  Churches. 
The  Heidelberg  Catechism  is  recommended  to  the 
Belgian  Churches,  in  order  that  they  may  be  in  accord 
with  the  German.  In  these  catechisations,  a  familiar 
style  is  to  be  used,  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  the 
young  people.  Parents  and  schoolmasters  are  to  be 
admonished  that  they  instruct  the  children  thoroughly, 
at  home  and  in  the  schools,  and  so  soon  as  their  age 
permits,  send  them  to  the  catechisation."* 

At  the  Synod  of  Dort,  1618  and  1619,  a  long  con- 
sultation was  held  upon  the  best  means  of  improving 
the  mode  of  catechisation  in  the  Netherlands,  between 
the  foreign  and  native  divines.  The  result  was  the 
following:  "In  order  that  the  young  people  of  the 
church  may  be  carefully  instructed  from  tender  years  in 
the  fundamental  principles  of  true  religion,  a  three-fold 
catechisation  shall  be  instituted  and  observed;  family 
instruction,  by  the  parents;  one  in  the  schools,  by  the 
teachers;  one  in  the  church,  by  the  pastor,  elders, 
readers,  and  deacons.  To  this  e^id,  parents  shall 
instruct  their  children  and  domestics  at  home  in  the 


*  Festus  Hommius  in  Hai'moxiia  Sjnoclorum  Belgicai'um,  cap.  xi.,  Num. 
13 — 16,  p.  155.  Catechizandi  consuetude  ab  apjostolis  a'ccepta,  in  omnibus 
ecclesiis  observanda  censetur;  Belgicis  ecclesiis  commcndatur  Heidelbergensis 
formula,  ut  cum  ecclesiis  Germanicis;-unanimis  Christiana  declaretur  consilio; 
in  explicanda  catechesi  sermone  fa,miliari  et  ad  juniorum  captum  accomodate 
est  utendum.  P^areijtes  et  Ludiiaagistri  sunt  monendi,  ut  domi  et  in  scholis 
juventutem  diligenter  instituuot  et  simul  ac  aetas  liberorum  patitur,  ecclesioe 
catecliizandos  afl'ereut.  ,    " 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM:.  141 

grounds  of  Christian  doctrine,  admonish  them  often  to 
the  fear  of  the  Lord,  remind  them  of  the  duty  of 
prayer,  take  them  to  the  house  of  God  to  hear  the  word 
of  God,  go  over  the  sermon  with  them  at  home,  read 
some  chapters  to  them  out  of  the  Bible,  or  let  them 
read  these  themselves,  and  assign  certain  passages  of 
Scripture  to  be  learned  by  heart;  and  to  this  duty 
parents  shall  be  frequently  admonished,  both  publicly 
and  privately,  by  the  pastors,  elders,  and  deacons,  and 
those  who  are  found  negligent  therein  shall  be  reproved 
by  the  Consistory.  In  the  schools,  no  one  shall  be 
be  appointed  as  teacher  who  is  not  a  member  of  the 
Reformed  Church,  or  who  has  no  testimonials  of  his 
faith  and  good  conduct.  He  must  be  well  versed  in 
the  catechetical  doctrine,  and  must  have  subscribed  the 
Belgic  Confession  and  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  with 
his  own  hand-writing,  and  have  solemnly  expressed  his 
promise  that  he  will  catechise  according  to  the  mode 
herein  prescribed,  and  that  he  will  diligently  instruct 
the  youth  entrusted  to  his  care,  in  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion. 

"  The  duty  of  such  schoolmaster's  office  shall  be,  to 
instruct  all  their  scholars,  according  to  the  difference  in 
their  age  and  understanding,  at  least  two  days  in  the 
week,  in  such  manner,  that  they  shall  not  only  learn 
the  sentences  of  the  Catechism  by  rote,  but  also  rightly 
comprehend  the  meaning  and  substance  of  the  same. 
For  this  purpose,  a  threefold  form  of  the  Catechism 
shall  be  used  in  the  schools,  arranged  according  to  the 
capacity  of  the  young  people.  The  first  shall  be  for 
the  use  of  little  children,  and  shall  contain  the  Apostle's 
Creed,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the 
doctrine  of  the  Sacraments  and  of  Church  discipline, 
besides  some  short  prayers  and  very  simple  questions 
bearing   upon   the   three   divisions  of  the  Catechism, 


142  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

together  with  some  notable  passages  of  sacred  Scripture. 
The  second  shall  consist  of  a  short  extract  from  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  in  accordance  with  which,  those 
who  have  well  mastered  the  first  Catechism  may  be  led 
to  farther  knowledge.  The  third  shall  be  the  ordinary 
Heidelberg  Catechism  in  use  in  the  Churches,  which 
shall  be  employed  in  the  instruction  of  adults,  and  of 
those  who  have  already  had  considerable  experience. 
In  connection  with  this  catechismal  arrangement,  the 
schoolmasters  shall  give  heed  that  the  scholars  not  only 
learn  it  by  heart,  but  are  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
the  doctrines  therein  contained;  and  in  order  to  this, 
they  shall  in  a  plain  and  intelligible  manner  explain  it 
to  them  according  to  their  capacity,  and  frequently 
examine  and  question  them,  in  order  to  ascertain 
what  progress  they  are  making.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  schoolmasters  shall  carefully  take  the  children  to 
church,  particularly  to  sermons  on  the  Catechism,  and 
afterwards  go  over  these  sermons  with  them. 

"  The  duty  of  the  pastors  shall  be;  in  company  with  the 
eldership,  and  if  need  be,  with  a  person  of  civil  author- 
ity, to  visit  the  public  and  private  schools,  to  show  the 
teachers  how  to  catechise  efficiently,  to  encourage  the 
children,  by  exhortation,  commendation,  promises,  and 
presents,  to  the  exercise  of  diligence  and  to  piety,  to 
reprove  negligent  teachers,  and  in  case  they  do  not 
improve,  to  request  the  magistrates  to  make  them  give 
better  attention  to  their  duty,  or  to,  put  better  men  in 
their  place.  Moreover,  it  shall  be  incumbent  on  the 
pastors  to  deliver  short  discourses  on  the  Catechism, 
adapted  to  the  capacity  not  only  of  adult  people,  but 
also  of  younger  persons,  and  as  time  may  permit,  'to 
repeat  them  in  the  schools,  particularly  in  the  country; 
and  as  experience  teaches  "that  the  ordinary  instruction 
in  the  churches  does  not  produce  proper  results  in  every 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  143 

case,  and  that  the  best  means  of  impressing  the  princi- 
ples of  Christianity  upon  the  people,  is  by  questions 
and  answers,  the  pastors  shall  see  to  it  that  such  adult 
persons  as  have  either  not  enjoyed  the  advantages  of 
the  schools,  or  have  learned  but  little  in  them,  shall 
come,  once  every  week,  to  a  private  house,  or  to  the 
room  in  which  the  meetings  of  the  Consistory  are  held, 
or  to  some  other  suitable  place,  that  they  may  there  be 
taught  the  grounds  of  the  Christian  religion,  according 
to  their  capacity,  in  a  friendly  and  familiar  way. 
Finally,  they  shall  also  carefully  instruct  those  who 
are  about  to  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  three  or  four 
weeks  before." 

From  the  pulpits,  pastors  were  required  to  explain 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism  in  the  afternoon  sermons. 
These  sermons  on  the  Catechism  were  made  obligatory 
by  church  law  as  early  as  1576.  The  church-order 
established  by  the  National  Synod  at  Gravenhaag  in 
1586,  repeated  these  rules,  and  made  them  more  strin- 
gent. Inasmuch  as  the  regulations  were  not  followed 
in  all  places,  they  were  reenacted  and  made  more 
emphatic  by  Synods  at  Amsterdam,  1607;  at  Dordrecht, 
1618;  and  at  Gouda,  1620.  D'Outrein,  preacher  and 
professor  at  Dordrecht,  proposed,  in  a  printed  pamphlet, 
to  omit  certain  preachings  through  the  week,  and  to 
introduce,  in  their  stead,  congregational  examinations 
on  the  Catechism;  and  farther,  at  the  close  of  the 
examination,  to  mention  the  subject  which  would  be 
discussed  at  the  next  meeting,  and  to  recommend  some 
book  which  treats  on  the  matter,  and  which  every  one 
could  consult.  His,proposal  was  not  generally  adopted, 
but  several  cities  in  Holland  followed  this  plan ;  and  in 
Zealand  especially,  such  examinations  are  practised  to 
this  day. 

The  history  of  the  adoption  of  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 


144  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE  OF 

chism  in  the  Netherlands  is,  beyond  dispute,  the  most 
important  and  noteworthy  of  all.  To  review  it  in  its 
connection,  is  an  instructive  and  profitable  work.  As 
early  as  1566,  Peter  Gabriel  lectured  on  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  at  Amsterdam.  On  these  occasions, 
owing  to  the  danger  of  the  times,  but  few  persons 
attended.  But  the  foundation  of  its  subsequent  adop- 
tion was  laid  in  a  convention  of  the  Dutch  churches 
scattered  within  and  outside  of  the  Netherlands,  at 
Wesel,  1568,  at  which  it  was  resolved:  "  In  the  French 
churches  of  the  Netherlands,  the  Catechism  of  Geneva 
shall  be  used;  but  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  shall  be 
employed  in  the  German  churches.  However,  this  is 
left  to  their  option  until  the  next  approaching  Synod." 
At  a  meeting  of  the  same  churches  subsequent  to  this, 
held  at  Embde,  1571,  the  above  regulation  was  repeated 
with  this  addition :  "  The  brethren  have  resolved,  that 
the  system  of  the  Genevan  Catechism  shall  be  followed 
in  the  French  churches,  and  that  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  in  the  churches  in  wliich  the  language  of 
the  Netherlands  is  spoken,  but  with  this  understanding, 
that  if  any  churches  have  another  catechetical  form  in 
use,  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  word  of  God,  they 
shall  not  be  compelled  to  change  it."  The  full  adoption 
of  our  Catechism  ensued  at  a  National  Synod  of  the 
Dutch  churches,  German,  and  French,  as  well  those 
outside  of  the  Netherlands,  as  those  within  the  borders, 
held  at  Dordrecht,  1574;  and  again  at  another,  held  at 
the  same  place  in  1578,  where  it  was  resolved:  "In  the 
German  churches,  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  shall  be 
used,  together  with  the  Psalms  translated  by  Peter 
Dathenus;  and  in  the  French  churches,  the  Catechi-sm 
heretofore  in  use,  printed  with  the  Psalms  in  French. 
The  German  churches  shall  also,  at  their  option,  use 
the  brief  examination  of  faith,  which  is  extracted  from 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  145 

the  Catechism,  in  order  to  instruct  those  who  may  wish 
to  unite  with  their  congregations." 

In  this  manner  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  was  intro- 
duced into  public  and  constant  use  in  the  Keformed 
Netherlands,  with  the   single  exception  of  the  city  of 
Gouda,  which  could  never  be  induced  to  consent  to  its 
adoption.     In  the  year  1576,  the  order  of  the  preach- 
ing was  regulated,  in  a  synopsis  of  ecclesiastical  rules, 
by  the  Prince  of  Orange,  as  Stadtholder,  and  the  States 
of  Holland  and  West  Friesland.    This  was  more  strictly 
prescribed  by  means  of  the  church  regulations  of  the 
Reformed  Churches  of  the  Netherlands  of  both   lan- 
guages, which  were   adopted  in  the  National  Synod  at 
Gravenhague,  in  1586:  "The  Pastors  shall  explain,  in 
a  brief  manner,  on  successive  Lord's  day  afternoons,  in 
regular  order,  the  summary  of  the   Christian  religion, 
contained  in  the  Catechism,  which  is  now  adopted  in 
the  Netherlands,  so   that  the  same  may  be  concluded 
and  gone  through  with  every  year,  according  to  the 
divisions  laid  down  therein."     When  it  was  found  that 
this  regulation  was  not  fully  obeyed  in  all  places,  the 
same  rule  was  again  enforced  by  the  Synods,  at  Amster- 
dam, 1607,  at  Dordrecht,  1618,  and  at  Gouda,  1620. 
The  esteem  in  which  the  Catechism  was   held,  was  still 
more  enhanced  by  the   obligation   imposed  upon   the 
teachers  of  churches  and  schools,  to  bind   themselves, 
by  the  signatures  of  their  names,  to  teach,  and  without 
interruption  to  use,  the  Catechism   in   their   instruc- 
tions.    The   highest   position   of  honour   and  respect 
was  accorded  to  the  Catechism  of  the  Palatinate,  by  the 
great  Synod  of  Dorarecht,  1618,  1619.     All  the  theo- 
logians who  were  present  as  deputies,^in  great  numbers, 
from  all  the  Reformed  Churches  of  Europe,  examined 
the  Catechism  with  the  closest  scrutiny;  after  long  and 
exact  investigation,  they  approved  it  in  all  its  doctrinal 
10 


146  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

statements,  commended  it  with  the  warmest  expressions 
of  satisfaction,  and  voted  unanimously  for  its  adoption 

as  A  SYMBOLICAL  BOOK. 

Notwithstanding  this  public  respect  and  formal  adop- 
tion, the  Heidelberg  Catechism  encountered  violent 
opposition  in  the  Netherlands.  Among  the  Papists,  as 
a  matter  of  course,  there  were  many  who  denounced  it. 
They  usually  called  it  the  pest  of  the  country  and 
the  poison  of  the  world.  They  burned  it  publicly, 
and  whipped  it  to  pieces  with  rods.  They  also  wrote 
against  it.  Martin  Duncan  wrote  in  Latin,  a  Catholic 
Catechism  in  opposition  to  the  Heidelberg,  Antwerp, 
1594.  Engelhert  Kenniphovius  published  a  refutation 
of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  An  unknown  author 
wrote  "The  Reformed  Thumb-screw."  A  learned  man, 
who  wrote  the  continuation  of  Floremund  Raymond's 
History  of  the  Rise,  Progress,' and  Fall  of  the  Heresies 
of  the  Fifteenth  Century,  makes  mention  of  this  book, 
but  the  author's  name  is  not  given.  The  contents  of 
the  book  are  amusing,  and  the  design  is  rather  to  treat 
the  Catechism  with  contempt,  and  make  it  ludicrous, 
than  to  refute  it  by  thorough  argument.  Two  Dutch 
linen-weavers  are  introduced  as  holding  a  dialogue 
about  it;  one  boasts  and  brags  that  he  understands  the 
art  of  putting  tangled  skeins  of  linen  thread  in  the  best 
order.  The  other  gives  him  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
and  bids  him  show  his  skill  on  this,  by  reconciling  cer- 
tain questions  which  occur  in  it  with  the  Scriptures  as 
the  rule  of  faith.  They  appoint  the  landlord  at  whose 
house  they  are  sitting  over  their  cups,  as  the  witness 
and  umpire  of  this  deliberation;  the  landlord's  wife 
takes  part  in  it  too,  and:  the  talk  runs  at.  last  into 
abuse  and  vilification  of  the  Catechism,  whose  doc- 
trines cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  teachings  of  sacred 
Scripture.  ^ 


THE    HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  U7 

The  Catechism  found  enemies,  and  opponents  also, 
among  the  Reformed  in  Holland.  The  first  dispute 
about  it  arose  in  1585,  in  the  Church  of  St.  James,  at 
Utrecht,  where  Erasmus  van  Bakker  refused  to  ap- 
prove and  adopt  it.  He  was  followed  with  great  zeal 
by  Caspar  Colhaes,  Hubrecht  Duyfhur,  Tako  Sy- 
brants,  Herman  Herberts,  and  Cornelius  Wigerus,  or 
AVigerts.  They  not  only  censured  the  Catechism,  but 
refused  to  teach  and  subscribe  it.  The  city  of  Gouda 
also  declined  to  adopt  and  introduce  the  Catechism, 
and  Dirck  Volkartz  Coornhart  published  a  pamphlet 
against  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  with  the  title, 
"Examination  (Proeve)  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
1583."  He  dedicated  it  to  the  States  General,  and 
objected  particularly  to  the  fifth  and  one  hundred  and 
fourteenth  question;  and  yet  all  this  was  a  trivial  mat- 
ter, compared  with  what  followed. 

By  far  the  most  violent  opponent  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  was  Arminius,  and  after  his  death,  the 
Arminians,  or  Remonstrants.  The  controversy  respect- 
ing the  Heidelberg  Catechism  lasted  a  long  while;  it 
extended  through  a  period  of  ten  years.  It  originated 
in  a  small  matter.  When  James  Arminius  was  called 
as  Professor  to  Leyden,  he  wished  to  make  the  impres- 
sion that  he  had  no  objection  to  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, and  that  he  also  taught  nothing  that  was  contrary 
to  it,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  heartily  endorsed  all  its 
doctrinal  principles.  It  was  soon  apparent,  however, 
that  various  points,  were  contained  in  it,  about  which  he 
had  some  scruples  and  hesitation,  and  that  he  wished 
tlte  Catechism  migkt  be  revised  and  carefully  re-exam- 
ined. After  some  time,  he  went  sojar  as  to  maintain, 
that  the  commonly  received  doctrine  of  the  Reformed 
Church  respecting  Divine  Providence  and  the  election 
of  individuals  to  eternal  life,  was  at  variance  with  the 


148  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Heidelberg  Catechism;  but  that,  on  the  other  hand,  his 
views  on  these  articles  of  faith  were  perfectly  in  accord- 
ance with  it.     On  this  subject  several  interviews  were 
held   between   him   and   his  Reformed  brethren,  and 
whilst  these  were  still  in  progress,  he  died,   without 
changing  his  opinions.     With  his  death,  however,  the 
dispute  was  not  settled ;  it  was  continued  by  his  disci- 
ples, the  Arminians.     At  one  time,  they  represented 
themselves  as  approving  the  essential  contents  of  the 
Catechism ;  at  another,  they  found  fault  with  this  thing 
and  the  other,  and  particularly  disapproved  of  its  being 
openly  taught  and  expounded  in  the  Church;  this  they 
declined  doing;   anon,   they  prepared  a  Catechism  of 
their  own,  in  order,  by  this  means,  to  drive  the  Heidel- 
berg out ;  then,  they  pretended,  that  their  doctrine  was 
contained  and  grounded  in  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
but  that  of  their  opponents,  the  Contra-remonstrants, 
was  not.     This  they  maintained  in  the  petition  to  the 
States  of  Holland  and  West  Friesland,  which  became 
so   famous    under  the    title,  Remonstrantia,   and  gave 
them  the  name   of  Remonstrants.     Next,  they  threw 
out  intimations,  that  they  had  many  doubts  about  the 
doctrines  of  the  Catechism.     They  declined,  however, 
to  come  out  with  those    doubts,  although  repeatedly 
invited  to  do  so,  and  questioned  in  relation  to  them, 
by  the  Provincial  Synod,  partly  because  they  were  of 
opinion  that  the  statement  and  adjudication  of  these 
points  belonged  to  a  National  Synod;  partly  because 
they  were  not  willing  to  make  known  and  entrust  their 
objections  indiscriminately  to  persons  who  might  per- 
haps abuse  them  to  their  disadvantage.     At  last,  they 
were  compelled  by  a  decree:  to  hand  them  in,  sealed,  to 
ihd  States  General.     This  they  did,  and  in  the  course 
of  these  objections,  they  complained  that  passages  were 
found  in  the  Catechism,  whiclj  could  not  be  regarded  as 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  149 

scriptural;  partly,  because  they  did  not  properly  ex- 
press the  mind  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  consequently 
gave  offence;  partly,  because  the  fundamental  articles 
of  Christianity  were  not  as  carefidly  distinguished,  as 
they  should  be,  from  other  doctrines,  whose  scientific 
importance  or  necessity  was  of  less  moment;  and  finally, 
because  contradictory  propositions  and  doctrines  were 
contained  in  it.  In  general,  they  insisted  upon  a  careful 
investigation  and  close  scrutiny  of  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, and  demanded  this  the  more  urgently,  because, 
according  to  their  representation,  the  Catechism  had 
been  adopted  in  the  Netherlands  without  this  prudent 
deliberation.  The  magistrates  consented  to  this  inves- 
tigation, and  ordered  that  it  should  be  instituted  at  a 
great  national  Synod. 

Another  outcry  arose  about  the  clause  of  revision 
{revisionis  dcvisuhim)  introduced  into  the  edict,  which 
was  issued  in  relation  to  it,  and  which  greatly  distressed 
and  racked  the  Churches  of  the  Netherlands.  The 
national  Synod  had  meanwhile  been  determined  upon. 
All  Reformed  Churches  in  Germany  and  other  coun- 
tries were  invited  to  send  their  deputies  to  this  im- 
portant assembly.  As  the  time  drew  near  for  the 
appointed  meeting  of  the  national  Synod,  the  Armini- 
ans,  or,  as  they  were  now  already  called,  the  Remon- 
strants, were  ordered,  by  a  written  decree  of  the  magis- 
trates, to  hold  in  readiness,  and  at  the  proper  time  pro- 
duce, that  which  they  had  to  allege  and  object  against 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  This  same  thing  was  more 
than  once  demanded  of  them,  both  in  writing  and 
verbally,  after  the'  Synod  had  commenced  in  1618, 
at  which  they  were  also  present,  vin  accordance  with 
this  order  and  repeated  demands,  the  llemonstrants 
finally  laid  before  the  fathers  assembled  at  Dordrecht, 
their   observations   and   objections   to  the   Heidelberg 


150  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Catechism.  They  did  this  both  unitedly  and  indi- 
vidually. Simon  Episcopius,  Philip  Pynakker,  Edward 
Poppius,  Dominicus  Sapma,  Jo.  Arnold  Corvinus, 
Samuel  Naeranus,  Bernard  Dwinglo,  and  Henry  Hol- 
lingerus,  had  united,  and  expressed  their  opinions  con- 
jointly; but  Charles  Niellius,  Thomas  Goswinius, 
Assuerus  Matthisius,  and  Isaac  Frederici,  handed  in 
their  objections,  each  one  for  himself.  They  had 
arranged  and  collected  them  in  general  objections, 
which  concerned  the  Catechism  as  a  whole,  and.  in 
particular  ones,  which  criticised  the  questions  and 
answers  in  regular  order,  and  had  brought  so  many, 
that  scarcely  a  single  question  was  left  without  criti- 
cism ;  and  their  remarks,  if  they  did  not  exceed  in  bulk 
the  matter  of  the  Catechism,  were  at  least  equal  to  it. 
They  subsequently  appeared  in  two  books.  The  one 
has  as  its  title  in  Latin,  "  Acts  and  Proceedings  of  the 
Synod  of  Dordrecht  respecting  the  Remonstrants;" 
the  other  is  written  in  Dutch,  with  the  title,  "  Rise  and 
Progress  of  the  Divisions  in  the  Churches  of  the  Nether- 
lands (verschillen)  up  to  the  national  Synod  at  Dor- 
drecht." 

Adrian  Coerbach,  a  lawyer  of  the  Netherlands,  also 
contended  against  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Accord- 
to  the  statement  of  Jerome  Van  Alphen,  a  Dutch 
preacher,  Pontionus  von  Hattem,  perverted  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  in  order  to  diffuse  the  errors  of 
Spinosa.  -  ^   ' 

One  of  the  most  renowned  men  in  the  whole  republic 
of  letters,  Hugo  Grotius,  remarks,  in  his  excellent 
Latin  book.  Desire  for  the  Peace  of  the  Church:  "Dr. 
E-ivetus  will  admit  that  Iv  have,  during  the-  space  of 
thirty  years,  learned  something,  not  only  through  study 
and  prayer,  but  also  through  manifold  trials;  and  at 
this  age  I  am  not  to  be  moved,  either  by  his  Catechism, 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  151 

which  has  never  yet  secured  public  respect  in  its  own 
native  country,  nor  by  the  clamours  of  the  multitude." 
In  another  passage,  he  declares  that  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism  had  never  been  approved  by  any  resolution, 
or  order  of  the  States  General;  but  Andrew  Rivetus 
answers  him :  "  How  can  this  sophist  say  that  the  Cate- 
chism has  never  been  approved  by  any  resolution,  when 
he  knows  better  1  It  is  wonderful  that  he  should  not 
know,  what  he  might  have  known,  and  what  Grotius 
himself  has  acknowledged,  that  after  the  Convention  at 
the  Hague,  during  the  time  that  the  meeting  of  the 
National  Synod  was  awaited,  it  was  forbidden  to  utter 
anything  contrary  to  the  sacred  Scriptures  and  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism;  and  although  Grotius  was  not 
present  at  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht,  yet  he  knows  what 
was  there  resolved,  viz.,  that  the  Heidelberg  Catechism, 
which  had  already  been  adopted  in  the  Belgian 
Churches,  should  be  retained  in  the  Netherlands,  and 
that  the  resolution  of  the  Synod  was  based  on  this 
decree  of  the  magistrates." 

If  Grotius  had  lived  some  time  longer,  he  would 
have  been  convinced  most  abundantly  of  that,  which, 
without  good  reason,  he  doubted,  and  denied.  For, 
besides  what  the  States  General  decreed  at  the  Synod 
of  Uort  and  elsewhere,  touching  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, they  confirmed  its  public  and  symbolical  charac- 
ter in  a  great  assembly  of  the  States,  in  1651,  and 
settled  it  again  in  1694,  by  the  following  ordinance: 
"That  all  teachers,  be  they  professors,  rectors,  or 
preachers  of  the  Reformed  Churches  in  Holland  and 
'West  Friesland,  4n  their  writings,  sermons,  catechisa- 
tions,  public  and'  private  instructions  and  discussions, 
shall  abide  by  the  common  formularies  of  the  Reformed 
Church,  which  are  comprised  in  the  Confession  of 
the  Catechisjn  and  the  Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Dort, 


152  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

and  shall  take  care  not  to  teach  or  write  anything  con- 
trary thereto." 

Let  us  look  somewhat  more  particularly  at  the 
defence  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Strong  cham- 
pions of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  arose  in  Holland 
when  the  attack  was  made  upon  it.  Dirck  Volkart 
Coornhart  was  the  first  who  assailed  it.  The  controversy 
was  therefore  first  begun  with  him.  He  had  dedicated 
his  book  to  the  States  General.  These  delivered  it-  to 
the  theologians  at  Leyden,  to  prepare  a  synopsis  of  his 
doctrinal  opinions.  Upon  this,  by  their  direction,  and 
in  presence  of  the  authorized  deputies  of  the  States,  a 
verbal  conversation  was  appointed  between  Coornhart 
and  Adrian  Saravia,  who  was  assisted  by  two  preachers 
from  Delft,  October  27,  1583.  In  this  however,  the 
real  point  in  dispute  was  scarcely  touched,  and  nothing 
was  done  on  the  part  of  the  magistrates.  Coornhart 
and  Saravia  continued  the  controversy  in  writing. 
Others  endeavoured  to  change  his  opinion  concerning 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism;  among'the  rest,  John  Gero- 
bulus,  Arnold,  Cornelius,  and  Rienerus  Donteklok, 
who  published  a  treatise  with  this  object;  but  Coorn- 
hart stuck  to  his  opinion,  and  wrote  an  answer  to  these 
men,  which,  however,  did  not  appear  in  print  until 
after  his  death,  in  1610,  at  Gouda. 

The  strongest  weapons  were  opposed  to  Arminius 
and  his  adherents,  the  Remonstrants.  The  chief 
magistrate  of  the  land  issued  public  orders  that  no 
one  should  presume  to  teach  anything  in  public,  con- 
trary to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  The  pastors  of  the 
churches  were  required  to  subscribe  this  formula  again, 
and  those  who  declined  Wer_e  dismissed  from  their  sta- 
tions. Those  who  made,  objections  to  it  were  called 
upon  to  state  them  openly.^  '  A  new  investigation  of 
the   Catechism   was   finally  reluctantly  conceded.      A 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  153 

convention  of  Reformed  Theologians  was  assembled  at 
Dordrecht,  1618  and  1619.  On  this  occasion,  the 
scruples  of  the  Remonstrants  were  considered.  Theo- 
logians from  the  Palatinate  appeared,  and  protested 
against  any  alteration  of  the  Catechism,  demanded  the 
objections  of  the  Remonstrants,  and  offered  to  present 
a  refutation  of  them  to  the  assembled  fathers.  At  the 
close  of  the  Synod,  the  Palatinate  deputies  requested 
that  the  Catechism  should  be  once  more  examined  by 
them.  All  the  questions  and  answers  were  then  read 
aloud  before  them,  the  votes  on  them  called,  and  the 
unanimous  answer  was,  that  it  was  in  perfect  accordance 
with  Holy  Scripture.  The  following  solemn  resolution 
was  then  entered  in  the  proceedings: 

^'Resolved,  unanimously  and  with  the  most  cordial 
approbation  of  all  the  theologians  present,  both  foreign 
and  Belgian,  that  the  doctrine  contained  in  the  Cate- 
chism of  the  Palatinate  is  agreeable  to  the  word  of 
God,  and  presents  nothing  which  ought  to  be  altered 
or  amended  as  imperfectly  agreeing  with  it;  and  that 
said  Catechism  is,  therefore,  a  very  accurate  compen- 
dium of  sound  Christian  doctrine,  adapted  with  pecu- 
liar wisdom,  not  only  to  the  capacity  of  children,  but 
also  of  persons  of  maturer  years;  and  that  it  may, 
therefore,  be  taught  to  great  edification  in  the  Belgic 
Churches,  and  must,  by  all  means,  be  retained." 

The  Remonstrants,  in  ridicule,  said,  that  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  had  been  cmioii-ized,  before  it  had  been 
examined,  according  to  the  decree  of  the  magistrates,  or 
their  requests  had  been  heard.  It  was  true,  in  fact, 
tliat  the  objectionSi-of  the  Remonstrants  had  not  been 
considered.  A  conversation  was  held  respecting  this, 
but  it  was  resolved  to  commit  tfie  vindication  to  the 
Palatinate  theologians.  What  the  Synod  of  Dordrecht 
omitted,  was  afterwards  done  by  the  learned  Reformed 


154  HISTORY   AND    LITERATURE   OF 

theologians, — Henry  Alting,  in  his  Exposition  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism;  Caspar  Sibelius,  in  his  Cate- 
chetical Meditations,  and  Jerome  Van  Alphen,  in  his 
Economy  of  the  Palatinate  Catechism.  The  learned 
men  of  the  Netherlands  rendered  most  efficient  service 
in  their  defence  of  the  Heidelbersf  Catechism.  It 
would  be  useless  to  make  the  attempt  to  notice  in 
detail  the  various  publications  which  appeared  in  this 
country — they  are  countless.  It  is  hardly  possible  to 
enumerate  all  the  commentaries,  expositions,  etc.,  which 
were  written  on  the  Catechism.  The  most  noted  are 
the  following: 

Jeremiah  Basfinqius  wrote,  in  the  Latin  language, 
Exegemonata,  or  Commentary  upon  the  Catechism  of 
Christian  Doctrine,  which  is  taught  in  the  Churches 
and  Schools  of  Belgium  and  the  Palatinate ;  this  Com- 
mentary first  appeared  in  1588.  A  second  edition  was 
published  in  1590.  Bastingius  wrote  also  another 
work,  with  the  Dutch  title,  Exposition  of  the  Catechism 
of  Christian  Religion.     Dort,  159'4. 

Henry  William  WiUiamson^s  Analysis  of  the  Cate- 
chism of  Christian  Heligion,  which  is  taught  in  the 
Churches  and  Schools  of  Belgium  and  the  Palatinate, 
1605-1612.     Latin. 

Ruardus  Acsonius'  Catechetical  Narrative,  in  which 
the  answers  of  the  Palatinate  and  Belgic  Catechism 
are  explained.  Scheidam,  1606.  This  is  in  Latin.  In 
the  Dutch  language,  he  wrote.  Exposition  of  the  Chris- 
tian Catechism.     Scheidam,  1608. 

John  luichUnus,  The  Catechism  of  the  Dutch  and 
West  Friesland  Churches  explained.  By  Samuel  Cris- 
pinus,  1612,  without  the  ijame  of  the  place,  where  it 
was  printed.     Latin. 

Festus  Hofnm'ius,  Treasuty  of  Explanations  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.     Leycjen,  1617. 


THE  HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  155 

Henry  Ludolph  Benthem,  who  gives  an  account  of 
the  authors  upon  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  observes, 
that  this  book  was  most  commonly  used  among  the 
Reformed.  This  book,  can,  however,  properly  not  be 
ascribed  to  Hommius  alone,  for  several  divines  contri- 
buted to  it,  among  whom  Zach.  Ursinus  was  the  first, 
for  which  reason  it  was  usually  called  Ursinus's  Trea- 
sury. John  D'Outrein  gives  the  history  of  this  book. 
Ursinus,  who  was  President  of  the  College,  delivered 
lectures  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  without  inter- 
ruption, until  the  year  1577.  From  these  comes  the 
Latin  Exposition  of  Ursinus,  which  was  published  in 
1581:,  and  which  was  afterwards  enlarged  by  his  pupil, 
David  Parens,  both  whose  works  were  translated  by 
Hommius,  and  furnished  with  analytical  tables ;  and  this 
work  was  again  revised  and  enlarged  with  special  refer- 
ence to  the  consideration  of  genuine  piety,  by  John 
Spiliardus,  and  was  thus  printed  in  one  book,  with 
the  title,  Treasury  of  Explanations  of  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  1657.  Van  iVlphen  mentions  the  follow- 
ing? title  of  another  book  of  Festus  Hommius:  The  Doc- 
trine  of  the  Reformed  Church  contained  in  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  presented  in  tables,  improved  and 
enriched  by  L.  V.  Broeck,  with  a  preface  by  II.  Nicol. 
AViltens,  2  vols.  Amsterdam,  1723.  This  book  is  per- 
haps nothing  more  than  a  separate  edition  of  the  ana- 
lytical tables,  mentioned  by  D'Outrein,  with  which 
Hommius  illustrated  the  Heidelberg  Catechism. 

Juhi  Bed  us  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Dort, 
1631. 

William  AmesiW  Skiography  of  the  Christian  Cate- 
chism, in  which,  under  the  tcxt,4he  several  Sundays 
are  briefly,  thoroughly,  and  learnedly  analysed  and 
exhibited.     Amsterdam,  1635,  1650.     In  the  complete 


156  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE  OF 

works  of  Araesius,  which  were  published  at  Amster- 
dam, 1658,  the  Skiography  is  inckided.     Latin. 

Gishert  Voetius'  Questions  on  the  Catechism.  Utrecht, 
1640. 

William  Maximilian  Theeliuck,  Simple  Explanation 
and  Application  of  the  Principal  Questions  of  the  Bel- 
gic  Christian  Catechism.    Middleburg,  1650. 

Henri/  Diestius^  Catechetical  Honey-maker,  (Melli- 
ficium  Catecheticum.)  Deventer,  1653.  Catechetical 
Sermons  by  the  same,  according  to  the  fifty-two  Lord's 
days  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Arnheim,  1670. 
Diestius  also  published  the  writings  of  two  celebrated 
expositors  of  the  Catechism,  condensed  in  a  short  sum- 
mary, with  the  Latin  title,  Epitome  of  the  Ursino- 
Parean  Expositions.    Harderwick,  1633. 

John  Martinis  Dominicalia  in  three  parts,  of  which 
the  third  part  contains  a  popular  analysis  of  the  Palati- 
nate Catechism,  and  observations  suggested  by  it.  Gro- 
ningen,  1653.  This  book  is  in  Latin.  He  wrote  also 
in  Dutch,  Larger  Catechisation '  on  the  Catechism. 
Amsterdam,  1676. 

Conrad  Mylius,  Catechetical  Meletemata,  or  Homi- 
lies on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Amsterdam,  1654. 
Latin. 

Cornelius  Poudrayen^  Catechisation,  or  Thorough 
Indoctrination  in  the  Teaching  of  the  Christian  Cate- 
chism.    Amsterdam,  1659. 

Nicolas  Heussenius,  Catechism  of  the  Peformed 
Churches  of  the  Netherlands,  confirmed  in  their  truth 
by  the  testimony  of  the  ancient  Fathers.  Eotterdam, 
1657.  He  also  wrote.  Prayers  on  the  Catechism. 
Leyden,  1655. 

John  Beeltsni/der,  Anatomy,  or  Exposition  of  the 
Christian  Catechrsm.     Antsterdam,  1651. 


THE  HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  157 

Daniel  Van  Leren,  Meditations  on  the  Catechism. 
Arnheim,  1636. 

Peter  de  Witfe,  Catechisation  on  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.  Amsterdam,  1658.  A  German  transhition 
of  this  book  bears  the  title:  "Catechetical  Jewel;  i.  e.. 
Scriptural  and  Copious  Catechisation,  or  thorough 
explanation  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  compiled 
with  godly  zeal  and  great  care,  and  given  to  public 
print,  by  Peter  de  Witte.  Now,  for  the  sixteenth 
time  within  a  few  years,  printed  and  published  in  the 
Netherlands."  This  book  was  eagerly  bought  up  and 
read.     Even  an  English  translation  of  it  was  published. 

Henry  Alt'mg^  Third  Part  of  the  Heidelberg  Theo- 
logical Authors,  which  comprises  an  explanation  of  the 
Palatinate  Catechism,  with  a  refutation  of  the  remarks 
of  the  Newlings  (innovators),  and  the  objections  of 
Socinians.  Amsterdam,  1646,  1662.  Van  Alphen 
ascribes  another  book  to  this  author:  Catechisation  on 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Steenwick,  1662.  This  is, 
perhaps,  only  a  Dutch  translation  of  the  above  Latin 
work. 

Paul  Colonius^  Catechetical  Discussions.  Harder- 
\v}^k,  1663.     Latin. 

Christian  Schotanus,  Theological  Partitions,  or  the 
Learning  of  Ursinus  and  Amesius  in  the  Palatino-Bel- 
gic  Catechism.     Franckker,  1663 — 1665.     Latin. 

Arnold  Montanus,  Catechism  of  the  Christian  Reli- 
gion, as  used  in  the  Churches  and  Schools  of  Upper 
and  Lower  Germany,  with  an  Analysis,  and  Scriptural 
passages  noted  in  the  margin,  finally  revised  and 
arranged,  by  order^-of  the  States  of  Holland  and  West 
Friesland,  for  the  Use  of  their  schools.  Latest  edition, 
enriched  with  an  analytical  compenaium  of  each  Lord's 
day,  from  Festus  Hommius'  Tables.    Amsterdam,  1664. 


158  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

This  book  is  written  in  very  neat  Latin.     At  the  close 
some  prayers  and  sacred  hymns  are  appended. 

Jacob  Stermont,  Milk  for  Children,  also  Food  for 
Grown  People,  or  Short  Summary  of  the  Christian 
Religion,  on  the  Catechism.     Hague,  1665. 

Gellms  de  Bouma,  or  de  Bauma,  Enlarged  Christian 
Catechism,  or  Sure  Method  of  Catechising  on  the 
same.  Dort,  1658.  He  is  the  author,  also,  of  Cate- 
chism of  the  Reformed  Religion,  made  plain  with  an 
Analysis.  Zutphen,  1651,  The  former  book  was 
also  translated  out  of  the  Dutch  into  the  German 
language,  with  the  title,  Catechism,  or  Short  Instruction 
in  Christian  Doctrine,  as  taught  in  the  Reformed 
Churches  and  Schools  of  the  Palatinate,  and  also  in  the 
United  Netherlands.  Whereto,  also,  a  short  and  easy 
form  and  method  of  exercising,  instructing,  and  exam- 
ining children  in  the  Catechism;  and  for  the  benefit  of 
the  simple;  also,  some  very  short,  but  exceedingly 
necessary  and  edifying,  examples  of  questions  are 
appended.  First  prepared  in  the  Dutch  language  by 
Gellius  de  Bouma,  but  now  translated  from  the  Dutch 
into  the  German  language,  by  John  Valentine  Rouser. 
Hanau,  1664. 

Balthasar  Bekker,  Strong  Meat  for  the  Full-grown. 
Leuwarden,  1670,  1672.  Amsterdam,  1682.  On  the 
title-page  no  mention  is  made  of  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, but  it  is  nevertheless  an  exposition  of  it.  The 
Reformed  theologians  have  not  regardecl  this  book  uni- 
formly. Alting,  Burmann,  AVittich,  Perizonius,  and 
others,  commended  it  highly;  but  Voetius,  Maresius, 
and  others,  were  loud  in  their  censure,  Maresius  espe-  . 
pecially,  was  terribly  incensed  at  it;  denounced  it  to  the 
Classis  of  Groningen  as  erroneous  and  dangerous,  and 
succeeded  in  having  the  book  rejected  by  a  Synod  at 
Bolsw^art,  in  Friesland,.and  procuring  alterations  here 


THE    HEIDELBERG    CATECHISM.  159 

and  there,  in  which  the  theological  faculties  at  Franek- 
ker,  Harderwyk,  and  Utrecht,  lent  zealous  assistance. 
Bekker  defended  himself,  indeed,  with  more  than  one 
apology,  and  Alting  also  wrote  a  special  letter  in  vindi- 
cation of  it;  but,  by  command  of  the  magistrates, 
Bekker's  apology  was  suppressed,  and  Maresius  attacked 
him  more  fiercely  than  ever;  other  theologians  also  fell 
upon  him,  but  Bekker  answered  them  so  modestly  and 
impressively,  that  to  this  day  he  is  held  in  honour  for 
it.  Finally,  the  matter  went  from  the  Synod  to  the 
States  General,  under  whose  judgment  and  order  the 
book  was  publicly  rejected,  and  with  the  ringing  of 
bells,  was  forbidden.  Bekker  endured  all  this  patiently. 
He  did  good  service  to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism  by 
various  other  books,  and  his  name  will  be  held  in 
remembrance. 

John  Cocceius,  The  Heidelberg  Catechism  of  the 
Christian  Keligion,  Explained  and  Illustrated  by  Holy 
Scripture.  Leyden,  1671.  Amsterdam,  1672.  Fra- 
nekker,  168^.  This  catechetical  work  in  Latin, 
which  is  also  contained  in  the  sixteenth  volume  of 
Cocccius'  works,  was  published  by  his  son,  John  Henry, 
after  his  death,  from  his  manuscripts.  The  son  says, 
very  neatly,  in  the  preface:  "As  for  this  treatise,  it 
needs  not  my  recommendation;  it  will  be  its  own  pro- 
tection. But  if  any  one  believes  that  matter  is  con- 
tained in  it,  of  which  the  authors  of  the  Catechism  had 
not  even  thought,  let  him  know,  that  my  father's  object 
was  not  only  to  show  what  the  authors  of  the  Cate- 
chism designed  to  say,  but  also  what  they  could  have 
said,  and  must  say,:in  accordance  with  Holy  Scripture." 
This  book  was  honoured  with  a  translation  into  the 
Dutch  language,  and  with  publicatK)n,  under  the  title. 
The  Heidelberg  Catechism  of  the  Christian  Religion, 
explained  from    Sacred   Scripture,  published  by  John 


160  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

Cocceius,  some  time  Professor  of  Divinity  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  the  city  of  Leyden,  translated  by  Abraham 
Van  Foot,  Doctor  of  Medicine.     Amsterdam,  1673. 

Jacob  Crucius,  Treasure  of  the  Christian  Soul. 
Fifty- four  Sermons  on  the  Catechism.  Amsterdam, 
1671. 

Samuel  Maresius,  Fublic  Catechism,  or  Theological 
Disquisitions  on  all  the  Lord's  Days  thereof,  now 
published  at  the  request  of  many.  Groningen,  1671. 
Latin. 

Francis  Rider's  Seven-fold  Exercises  on  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  2  parts.     Rotterdam,  1671. 

Anthonij  Hulsius,  Catechetical  Didactico-polemical 
Examen.  2  vols.  Leyden,  1673.  This  author  pub- 
lished another  polemical  work,  Leyden,  1676.  This 
work  is  Latin. 

Adam  Peeniiis,  Catechisation  on  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.     Leyden,  1676. 

William  Momma's  Meditations  on  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.  Leyden,  1684.  Reflections  of  the  same  on 
the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  Amsterdam,  1685,  are  per- 
haps a  translation  of  the  other,  which  was  written  in 
Latin. 

James  Alting's  Dissertation,  or  Notes  on  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism.  Also  an  Exegetical  Analysis  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  which  may  be  found  in  the  sixth 
volume  of  his  complete  works.     Amsterdam,  1687. 

Anthoni/  Vorster,  Catechetical  View  of  the  Know- 
ledge of  Truth,  according  to  the  order  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism.     Leyden,  1691., 

Cornelius  Gentman,  Dissertation  on  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.  Utrecht,  1692.  Van  Alphen  mentions 
another  work  of  this  author  on  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism, Amsterdarh,  1705.   "Perhaps  only  a  new  edition. 

Barend  Hakvoord,  The  School  for  Christ;  comprising 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  161 

Sixty-six  Lessons,  in  whicli  the  whole  Confession  of 
Christian  Faith  is  briefly  presented,  and  clearly  ex- 
plained, and  confirmed  by  Holy  Scripture,  according  to 
the  course  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Third  impres- 
sion, Amsterdam,  1693;  again,  at  Zwoll  and  Amster- 
dam, 1706.  Van  Alphen  is  of  the  opinion  that  much 
which  is  contained  in  this  book  is  contrary  to  the 
Christian  religion. 

Pontiomis  Von  Hattem,  Dissertation  and  exact  Inter- 
pretation of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Two  Parts. 
Amsterdam,  1692.  Van  Alphen  calls  it  a  wicked  and 
dangerous  perversion,  and  no  interpretation  at  all. 

Peter  Van  Hagen,  Fifty-two  Sermons  on  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  besides  four  Introductory  Sermons. 
Amsterdam,  1676,  1684.  These  sermons  were  trans- 
lated from  the  Dutch  into  German,  by  John  Vogelsang. 
^  Everharcl  van  der  Hoocht,  The  Heidelberg  Catechism 
discussed  in  the  Nieuwendammer  Church,  for  those 
who  desire  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. Amsterdam,  1696.  Another  work  of  Van  der 
Hoocht  is  extant,  with  the  title,  Explanation  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.     Amsten,  17U. 

David  Knibbe,  Doctrine  of  the  Reformed  Church, 
according  to  the  order  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,' 
explained,  confirmed,  and  applied  to  the  practice  of 
Godliness.  Two  Parts,  Leyden,  1692,  1694;  and  again 
at  Leyden,  1696. 

Caspar  Sibellhis,  Catechetical  Meditations,  in  four 
parts,  in  which  the  chapters  of  the  Christian  Religion 
contained  and  taught  in  the  Catechism  of  the  Palati- 
nate are  clearly  explained,  both  as  to  theory  and  prac- 
tice, and  powerfully'  vindicated  from,  the  calumnies  and 
abuse  of  gainsayers,  especially  from  the  criticisms  of 
the  Remonstrants.  Preceded  by  Catechetical  Prolego- 
mena and  Pai-alegomena.  Amsterdam,  1650.  The 
11 


162  HISTORY  AND   LITERATURE   OF 

first  part  of  this  prolix  Latin  book  came  out  separately 
at  Deventer,  1646;  the  second  at  the  same  place,  1647; 
the  third,  1649,  and  at  last,  the  fourth  also,  1650. 

Hero  Sihersena,  Well  of  Salvation,  exhibited  in  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.  Leuwarden,  1696.  A  transla- 
tion of  it  appeared  at  Frankfort,  1699. 

The  zeal  in  cultivating  the  Heidelberg  Catechism 
was  not  yet  cold.  The  eighteenth  century  produced 
many  men  who  rendered  eminent  service  in  this  depart- 
ment. 

John  William  Feyling's  Precious  Catechism.  Utrecht, 
1705.  By  the  same.  The  Truth  of  the  Christian  Reli- 
gion, its  duties  and  comfort,  briefly  proved  by  the  Hei- 
delberg Catechism.     Amsterdam,  1710. 

John  JRodolph  Rodolph^  The  Palatinate  Catechism 
illustrated  for  the  use  of  his  hearers,  which  first 
appeared  at  Bern,  1697,  was  published  also  at  Franek- 
ker,  1705.     Franz  Halma  edited  the  last  edition. 

Jacob  Breukland^  Dissertation  on  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Covenant  of  Grace,  according  to  the  order  of  the  Hei- 
delberg Catechism.     Middleburg,  1711. 

Peter  Van  HoeJce,  Illustrations  of  the  Fleidelberg 
Catechism.     Leyden,  1711. 

Mathaeus  Gargou^  Some  Consolation,  or  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism  opened  and  explained.     Leyden,  1713. 

Van  Pothui/sen,  Key  of  Knowledge,  or  Explanation 
of  the  Doctrine  of  Truth,  according  to  the  order  of  the 
Christian  Catechism.     Utrecht,  1717. 

Salomon  Van  Till,  Catechetical  Homilies.  Utrecht, 
1714.  From  the  Latin  they  were  translated  into 
Dutch. 

John  D^Outrein,  Golden  Jewel  of  the  Doctrine'  of 
the  Truth  according  to  Godliness,  comprised  in  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism;  developed  and  illustrated.  By 
John  D'Outrein.     Amsterdam,  1719.     Frederic  Adol- 


THE   HEIDELBERG   CATECHISM.  163 

phus  Lampe  published  it  several  times  with  notes  and 

additions. 

Peter  Venhuysen,  The  Complete,  Sure  Doctrine  of 
Consolation  of  the  Reformed  Church,  opened  for  whole- 
some  instruction,  and  derived  from  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism.     Groningen,  1721. 

John  van  der  Kern}),  Christians  wholly  and  every- 
where in  Possession  of  Christ.  Presented  in  fifty-three 
Sermons  on  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Rotterdam, 
1722. 

Abraham  van  der  Steeg,  Food  for  Youth,  or  Short 
Exposition   of    the   Heidelberg   Catechism.      Utrecht, 

1726. 

Herman  Alexander  Boell,  Explanation  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism.  Utrecht,  1728.  Although  Roell  was 
in  his  day  learned  and  celebrated,  his  Exposition  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  was  anything  but  satisfactory  to 
the  learned  men  of  his  times.  The  author's  son  pub- 
lished this  book,  and  excuses  the  imperfection  of  the 
work,  because  his  father  had  not  intended  that  it  should 
be  printed.  It  is  a  book  compiled  from  notes  of  lec- 
tures. The  copyists  have  often  failed  to  secure  the 
right  meaning  of  the  author. 

John  van  der  Honert,  Presentation  of  the  Evangelical 
Truths  which  are  contained  in  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism.    Leyden,  1728. 

Anthony  Driessen,  Helps  to  Explain  the  Heidelberg 
Catechism,  Methodically  and  Apodictically,  and  to 
apply  it  to  Practice.     Groningen,  172-4. 

Jerome  Van  Alphen,  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of 
his  age,  who  rendered  eminent  service  in  the  expo- 
sition of  the  Catechism,  ^vrote,  in  the  Latin  language, 
Economy  of  the  Palatinate  Catechism,  with  a  Prologue 
on  Catechetical  exercises  generally,  and  particularly,  on 


164  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE   OF 

the  Origin  and  History  of  the  Catechism  of  the  Palati- 
nate.    Utrecht,  1729. 

Anthony  Stride,  The  Heidelberg  Catechism  briefly 
explained  in  Questions  and  Answers;  together  with  a 
Catechisation  for  making  a  profession  of  faith,  and 
preparation  for  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  a  short  extract 
from  it.     Leuwarden,  1739. 

Engelbert  Francis  Le  BoucJc,  Explanation  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism.  Hague,  17-11.  This  Latin 
exposition  is  somewhat  prolix,  and  strictly  Calvinistic. 

Besides  these  expositors  of  the  Catechism,  who  are 
known,  there  are  many  more  whose  names  were  either 
not  announced,  or  whose  catechetical  books  have  not 
been  accurately  and  perfectly  noted  by  any  one.  Some 
learned  men  in  Holland  have  given  the  sense  of  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism  in  verses  and  rhymes,  sometimes 
in  a  summary,  and  sometimes  in  a  more  extended 
form. 

In  the  Latin  language,  Francis  Plante  wrote  sacred 
epigrams  upon  the  Confession  of  Faith  of  the  Reformed 
lleligion  and  Catechism.  Leyden,  1679.  Another 
poetical  work  bears  the  title:  The  Glory  of  the 
Keformed  Church,  streaming  from  the  short  Compen- 
dium of  Divinity  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  with 
the  questions  and  answers  of  the  same  put  in  rhyme, 
by  Christian  Klaarbout.  Amsterdam,  1725.  This 
rhythmical  version  of  the  Heidelberg. Catechism  into 
Dutch  and  poetical  language,  is  accompanied  with  a 
long  preface,  in  which  Klaarbout  overlays  the  Cate- 
chism with  the  most  honourable  eulogies  and  names, 
and  relates  its  history,  the  greater  part  of  which  is 
extracted  from  John  D'Outrein,  and  sometimes  in  the 
very  words  of  that  author. 

Balthasar  Befcker  published,'Child-tcaching  in  Rhyme, 


THE  HEIDELBERG  CATECHISM.  165 

or  the   Heidelberg  Catechism   put   in    rhyme  for  the 
benefit  of  the  memory  of  Children,  in  the  year  1665. 

Other  learned  men  published  original  catechisms 
according  to  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism,  so  that  by  this  means,  they  illustrated 
and  enriched  it,  or  in  the  preparation  of  various  theolo- 
gical books,  directed  their  aim  to  it.  The  following  are 
in  the  Dutch  language : 

Emil  Cuylemhoorgh^  Beginning  of  the  Doctrine  of 
Christ,  presented  according  to  the  order,  division,  and 
actual  words  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Rotter- 
dam, 1698. 

Henry  Groenewegen^  Catechisation,  or  Exercise  upon 
all  the  principal  grounds  of  Christian  Faith,  according 
to  the  track  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  Enkhuysen, 
1698. 

Thaddeus  de  Lantmau,  Short  Guide  to  the  Doctrine 
of  Truth.     Hague,  1678. 

George  Meg,  Brief  Compendium  of  the  principal  dif- 
ferences between  the  true  Reformed  and  the  present 
Romish  Church,  according  to  the  order  of  the  Christian 
Catechism.     1693. 

Balthasar  Bekker^  Nourishment  of  Spiritual  Growth, 
for  the  Youth  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  Churches,  consist- 
ing of  fifty-two  questions  for  the  smallest  Children. 
Milk  for  Children,  and  bread  already  cut,  very  conve- 
nient for  use  in  the  schools  of  the  Reformed  and  all 
Christian  Economies.     1668. 

John  Martin^  Shorter  Catechisation  on  the  Christian 
Catechism.     Utrecht,  1686. 

'  Simon  Moolenaitr,  Bible-book,  or  Short  Compend 
of  True  Divinity,  contained  in  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism.    Two  Parts.     Amsterdam,  1723. 

Anthong  Van  Costnim,  Short  Compend  of  the  Heidel- 
berg Catechism.     Dordrecht,  1701. 


166  HISTORY   AND   LITERATURE,   ETC. 

Simon  Simonides,  Short  Compend,  &c.  Amsterdam, 
1693. 

The  preachers  in  Dordrecht  published  in  common, 
1620,  Short  Compendium  of  Christian  Doctrine,  ar- 
ranged in  short  questions  and  answers,  according  to  the 
Heidelberg  Catechism,  for  the  instruction  of  those  who 
are  preparing  for  the  holy  communion. 

At  Herzogenbusch  was  published,  in  the  French  lan- 
guage, Samuel  Maresiiis'  Familiar  Sketch  of  the  proper 
Catechism  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United  Pro- 
vinces, divided  into  twelve  sections. 

The  great  Synod  of  Dort,  during  its  sessions,  entrust- 
ed to  certain  theologians  who  were  present,  Francis 
Gomarus,  John  Polyander,  Anthony  Thysius,  Herman 
Faukel,  Balthasar  Lydius,  and  Godfried  Utemann,  the 
preparation  of  an  extract  from  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism for  smaller  Children.  They  finished  it  during 
the  sessions,  and  it  was  approved. 

The  General  States  of  Holland  .rendered  another  ser- 
vice to  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.  They  procured  its 
translation  into  modern  Greek,  for  the  use  of  those  who 
speak  that  language ;  and  Parens,  in  his  history  of  the 
Palatinate,  says:  "In  Belgium  they  are  preparing  a 
Spanish  translation  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism,  in 
order  that  it  may  be  used  in  the  West  Indies."  Mr. 
Oelrich  makes  mention  of  another  Spanish  translation 
in  the  following  treatise: 

D.  John  Charles  Conrad  Oelrich^ s  Historical  critical 
account  of  a  very  rare  edition  of  the  Heidelberg  Cate- 
chism of  the  Reformed  Churches,  in  the ,  Spanish  lan- 
guage. Berlin,  by  Nauck,  1793,  42  pp.  This  is  pjer- 
haps  the  same  of  which  Parens  gives  an  account  in  his 
History  of  the  I)alatinate'_ 


